Skip to content

Monday, May. 5, 2025

Can Border Patrol enforce immigration laws on tribal land?

Carmela Guaglianone, Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting, The Colorado Sun

yes

The federal government has enforcement authority over federal crimes like crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, even if they happen on tribal land. Tribal law enforcement officers generally have authority to detain and transfer people they’ve already stopped if they suspect an individual crossed into their jurisdiction illegally.

Tribal law enforcement officers can also be deputized to enforce federal law. Tribal police can be granted customs authority, for example, allowing them to share intelligence and assist with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigations. Border Patrol coordinates closely with tribal governments and often conducts joint patrols with tribal police. The agencies also share resources for border security operations, such as patrol vehicles or facilities.

See a full discussion of this at The Colorado Sun

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

About fact briefs

Fact briefs are bite-sized, well-sourced explanations that offer clear "yes" or "no" answers to questions, confusions, and unsupported claims circulating online. They rely on publicly available data and documents, often from the original source. Fact briefs are written and published by Gigafact contributor publications.

See all fact briefs

The Colorado Sun is a journalist-founded, award-winning and nonprofit news outlet based in Denver that strives to cover all of Colorado so that our state — our community — can better understand itself. In this way, we believe we can contribute to a more vibrant, informed and whole Colorado. We are committed to fact-based, in-depth and nonpartisan journalism. We cover everything from politics and culture to the outdoor industry and education. Our goal is to produce the best possible journalism. We do that with the help of you, our readers, and community backers. We launched on Sept. 10, 2018.

Learn More

Be a Friend of facts

Help us fund more great fact briefs like this one.