BORDER FENCE MUST SKIRT OBJECTIONS FROM ARIZONA TRIBE

TOHONO O'ODHAM NATION, Ariz. -- The Senate is expected to vote
Wednesday on legislation to build a double-layered 700-mile-long fence
on the Mexican border, a proposal already approved by the House.

If the fence is built, however, it could have a long gap -- about 75
miles -- at one of the border's most vulnerable points because of
opposition from the Indian tribe here.

More illegal immigrants are caught -- and die trying to cross into the
United States -- in and around the Tohono O'odham Indian territory,
which straddles the Arizona border, than any other spot in the state.

Tribal leaders have cooperated with Border Patrol enforcement, but
they promised to fight the building of a fence out of environmental
and cultural concerns.

For the Tohono O'odham, which means "desert people," the reason is
fairly simple. For generations, their people and the wildlife they
revere have freely crossed the border. For years, an existing
four-foot-high cattle fence has had several openings -- essentially
cattle gates -- that tribal members use to visit relatives and
friends, take children to school and perform rites on the other side.

"I am O'odham first, and American or Mexican second or third," said
Ramon Valenzuela, as he walked his two children to school through one
gate two miles from his O'odham village in Mexico.

But the pushed-up bottom strands of the cattle fence and the
surrounding desert littered with clothing, water jugs and discarded
backpacks testify to the growth in illegal immigrant traffic, which
surged here after a Border Patrol enforcement squeeze in California
and Texas in the mid-1990's.

Crossers take advantage of a remote network of washes and trails --
and sometimes Indian guides -- to reach nearby highways bound for
cities across the country.

Tribal members, who once gave water and food to the occasional passing
migrant, say they have become fed up with groups of illegal immigrants
breaking into homes and stealing food, water and clothing, and even
using indoor and outdoor electrical outlets to charge cellphones.

With tribal police, health and other services overwhelmed by illegal
immigration, the Indians welcomed National Guard members this summer
to assist the Border Patrol here. The tribe, after negotiations with
the Department of Homeland Security, also agreed to a plan for
concrete vehicle barriers at the fence and the grading of the dirt
road parallel to it for speedier Border Patrol and tribal police
access. The Indians also donated a parcel this year for a small Border
Patrol substation and holding pen.

Tribal members, however, fearing the symbolism of a solid wall and
concern about the free range of deer, wild horses, coyotes,
jackrabbits and other animals they regard as kin, said they would
fight the kind of steel-plated fencing that Congress had in mind and
that has slackened the crossing flow in previous hot spots like San
Diego.

"Animals and our people need to cross freely," said Verlon Jose, a
member of the tribal council representing border villages. "In our
tradition we are taught to be concerned about every living thing as if
they were people. We don't want that wall."

The federal government, the trustee of all Indian lands, could build
the fence here without tribal permission, but that option is not being
pressed because officials said it might jeopardize the tribe's
cooperation on smuggling and other border crimes.

"We rely on them for cooperation and intelligence and phone calls
about illegal activity as much as they depend on us to respond to
calls," said Chuy Rodriguez, a spokesman for the Border Patrol in
Tucson, who described overall relations as "getting better and better."

The Tohono number more than 30,000, including 14,000 on the Arizona
tribal territory and 1,400 in Mexico. Building a fence would impose
many challenges, apart from the political difficulties.

When steel fencing and other resources went up in California and
Texas, migrant traffic shifted to the rugged terrain here, and critics
say more fencing will simply force crossers to other areas without the
fence. Or under it, as evidenced by the growth in the number of
tunnels discovered near San Diego.

The shift in traffic to more remote, treacherous terrain has also led
to hundreds of deaths of crossers, including scores on tribal land
here.

The effort to curtail illegal immigration has proved especially
difficult on the Tohono O'odham Nation, whose 2.8 million acres, about
the size of Connecticut, make it the second largest in area.

Faced with poverty and unemployment, an increasing number of tribal
members are turning to the smuggling of migrants and drugs, tribal
officials say.

Just this year, the tribal council adopted a law barring the harboring
of illegal immigrants in homes, a gesture to show it is taking a "zero
tolerance" stand, said the tribal chairwoman, Vivian
Juan-Saunders.

Two members of Ms. Juan-Saunders's family have been convicted of drug
smuggling in the past several years, and she said virtually every
family had been touched by drug abuse, smuggling or both.

Sgt. Ed Perez of the tribal police said members had been offered $400
per person to transport illegal immigrants from the tribal territory
to Tucson, a 90-minute drive, and much more to carry drugs.

The Border Patrol and tribal authorities say the increase in manpower
and technology is yielding results. Deaths are down slightly, 55 this
year compared with 62 last year, and arrests of illegal immigrants in
the Border Patrol sectors covering the tribal land are up about 10
percent.

But the influx of agents, many of whom are unfamiliar with the
territory or Tohono ways, has brought complaints that the agents have
interfered with tribal ceremonies, entered property uninvited and
tried to block members crossing back and forth.

Ms. Juan-Saunders said helicopters swooped low and agents descended on
a recent ceremony, apparently suspicious of a large gathering near the
border, and she has complained to supervisors about agents speeding
and damaging plants used for medicine and food.

Some traditional and activist tribal members later this month are
organizing a conference among eight Indian nations on or near the
border to address concerns here and elsewhere.

"We are in a police state," said Michael Flores, a tribal member
helping to organize the conference. "It is not a tranquil place anymore."

Mr. Rodriguez acknowledged the concerns but said agents operated in a
murky world where a rush of pickups from a border village just might
be tribal members attending an all-night wake, or something else.

"Agents make stops based on what they see," he said. "Sometimes an
agent sees something different from what tribal members or others see."

Agents, he added, are receiving more cultural training, including a
new cultural awareness video just shot with the help of tribal members.

"Our relations have come a long way" in the past decade, he
said.

Mr. Valenzuela said several agents knew him and waved as he traveled
across the border, but others have stopped him, demanding
identification. Once, he said, he left at home a card that identifies
him as a tribal member and an agent demanded that he go back into
Mexico and cross at the official port of entry in Sasabe, 20 miles
away.

"I told him this is my land, not his," said Mr. Valenzuela, who was
finally allowed to proceed after the agent radioed
supervisors.

Mr. Valenzuela said he would not be surprised if a big fence
eventually went up, but Ms. Juan-Saunders said she would affirm the
tribe's concerns to Congress and the Homeland Security department. She
said she would await final word on the fence and its design before
taking action.

Members of Congress she has met, she said, "recognize we pose some
unique issues to them, and that was really what we are attempting to
do, to educate them to our unique situation."

The House last week approved a Republican-backed bill 238 to 138
calling for double-layer fencing along a third of the 2,000-mile-long
border, roughly from Calexico, Calif., to Douglas, Ariz.

There is considerable support for the idea in the Senate, although
President Bush's position on the proposal remains uncertain. The
Homeland Security secretary, Michael Chertoff, has expressed doubts
about sealing the border with fences.