Enrolled members in federally recognized tribes in Arizona can now obtain a Native American designation on their driver’s licenses, IDs and instructional permits.
Sponsored by Navajo Democrat Representative Myron Tsosie, House Bill 2852 went into effect on Jan. 1, allowing members of federally recognized tribal nations to opt into having “Native American” printed on the front of their IDs.
While the new designation has opened up potential opportunities for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe in southeastern Arizona, Indigenous community members also expressed some skepticism over the designation.
Julian Hernandez, Pascua Yaqui chairman, said the Pascua Yaqui Tribal Council is conflicted: some favor the new designation while others are on the fence.
Adding a new designation
As of March 30, Arizona has issued 15,831 Native American designations, according to Bill Lamoreaux, a spokesperson for the Arizona Department of Transportation.
“We as an organization are definitely happy that this designation is available and we are pleased that people are absolutely coming in and updating their credentials as they are able to or as they would like to,” he said.
ADOT worked closely with tribes to make sure that the new designation was reflective of all of their interests, he said.
“Initially they wanted an arrow, then they wanted a feather, because the Navajo Nation introduced it. The tribes couldn’t come to an agreement, so they came with the designation of Native American,” said Marisela Nuñez, Pascua Yaqui tribal enrollment director.
The Navajo Nation’s “enrollment office was having challenges doing so many ID cards, so they saw the designation on the driver’s license as a solution, something that would be accessible to citizens,” she added.
But as one of the largest Tribal Nations in Arizona, their circumstances are different from smaller tribes, Nuñez said. That makes the benefits and drawbacks different for other communities, too.
The positive impact on new IDs for Pascua Yaqui
There could be some upsides to the designation for the tribe, said Rosa Soto Alvarez, Pascua Yaqui Tribal Council secretary.
Data collected through the new designation could better document the number of Arizonans who are members of the 22 federally recognized tribes in the state, she said, which could potentially help tribal communities with funding and representation.
“We know that we’re never getting the fair share of the pie, so it could be something that can be used for us to really reflect who we are in the state and the number of people we have,” Alvarez said.
Current federal data does not accurately represent tribal citizenship, Council Member Herminia Frias added.
The designation could also help with voting, said Nuñez, who works with the Get Out the Vote campaign to increase voter participation.
Extracting tribal voter information has been difficult for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe.
“There’s nothing that says they’re tribal, so I feel like that might actually serve as an advantage for us when we’re registering people to vote,” she said.
The council also said the new designation could help identify tribal members in cases of emergency or under the Indian Child Welfare Act, which aims to protect the safety and cultural heritage of Indigenous children and avoid permanently removing them from their communities.
“If the parents have an ID, right away maybe that will start the search to the tribes to see if the child is enrolled so that they can come and be placed in a Pascua Yaqui home faster,” Alvarez said.
Enhanced Tribal Identification
However, council members also said the new state designation overlaps with an existing identification program for Pascua Yaqui tribal members: the Enhanced Tribal Identification Card Program, a passport and identification card the tribe issues to its members.
“In most cases [the new designation is] good, but it’s something that I’m not looking forward to because we have our own IDs,” Chairman Hernandez said.
He said the existing program has more credibility among tribal members than the new state ID designation.
Because the data collected through the Enhanced Tribal ID stays with the tribe, Nuñez also encourages Pascua Yaqui members to apply for that card.
“That is really important in maintaining our tribal roll, making sure we get that up to date information,” she said.
The Pascua Yaqui passport cards are part of the Sacred Path Program, the first Indigenous-led initiative providing IDs to tribal members. Introduced by the Pascua Yaqui Tribe in 2013, the program has helped 19 tribes across the U.S. create Enhanced Tribal Cards.
“We’re doing the type of work that the Department of State is doing. The Department of State is issuing passports – pretty much so are we,” Nuñez said.
To help protect tribal members, the Pascua Yaqui Tribe’s enrollment office provides Enhanced Tribal Cards exemplars to Homeland Security, which sends them to every port of entry and uses them for training material for Transportation Security Administration and U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents, Nuñez said.
JS Torres and Sebastian talking to the guests at the Know Your Right Workshop at the San Xavier Co-op farm, in Tucson, Arizona on Jan. 30, 2026.
ICE impact on Indigenous Arizonans
That kind of recognition, whether from tribal IDs or through the new designation, is especially important as immigration enforcement actions are ramping up across the U.S. under the Trump administration, said JS Torres, who was running a recent Know Your Rights Workshop.
Rep. Tsosie has said the Native American designations were not implemented because of U.S Immigration Customs Enforcement activity in Arizona, but to make it easier for Arizonans to be identified, according to reporting by KJZZ Phoenix.
Still, some see the IDs as playing a potential role in keeping Indigenous communities in Arizona safe.
If a tribal member is stopped by ICE and their tribal ID is denied, the new designation IDs would be a positive, said Torres, a Tlingit and Lakota Sioux member of Alianza Indígena sin Fronteras.
“The whole reason we’re doing this workshop is because a tribal member was illegally detained and said that their tribal ID was not valid,” she said.
The Pascua Yaqui Tribal Council has not commented on this situation, but members said immigration policies have at times targeted Indigenous communities.
Although the tribe tries to educate immigration agents by providing training to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, there always will be a possibility agents won’t know what the card is, Nuñez said.
“That’s what’s been the most concerning is members being afraid of ICE and all the activity happening,” Hernandez said.
He added that he has some concerns that branding individuals with their identity such as the new Native American ID designation could potentially have negative consequences as well, though he did not elaborate on what those might be.
“I know online right now it’s pretty divided, and right now I’m pretty much on the negative side personally,” Torres said. “We have Tribal IDs so why do we need to have it on our driver’s license?”
For now, the Pascua Yaqui Tribal Council urges tribal members to secure legal documents, whether the state or tribal ID, and handle them with caution.
For more information on how to get the designation, visit the Arizona Department of Transportation website.
This story was originally published by Arizona Sonoran News.
Arizona Sonoran News is a news service of the University of Arizona School of Journalism.
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