{"id":1004285,"date":"2026-08-16T11:05:45","date_gmt":"2026-08-16T11:05:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1004285\/"},"modified":"2026-08-16T11:05:45","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T11:05:45","slug":"ice-agents-arrest-3-people-at-gila-river-indian-community-smoke-shop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1004285\/","title":{"rendered":"ICE agents arrest 3 people at Gila River Indian Community smoke shop"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/gettyimages-2202150826-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"764\" height=\"432\" loading=\"eager\" fetchpriority=\"high\" data-v-653d32e2=\"\"\/> article <\/p>\n<p data-v-653d32e2=\"\">FILE &#8211; A patch for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is seen on an officer&#8217;s vest. ICE agents arrested three non-tribal members at a smoke shop on the Gila River reservation Saturday morning. <strong class=\"source\" data-v-653d32e2=\"\">(Aaron M. Sprecher\/Getty Images)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\"><strong>SUN LAKES, Ariz.<\/strong> &#8211; Federal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox10phoenix.com\/tag\/immigration\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\"><strong>immigration<\/strong><\/a> agents arrested three men during a traffic stop on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gilariver.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\"><strong>Gila River Indian Community<\/strong><\/a> reservation Saturday morning, prompting tribal leaders to issue a public safety advisory and raise concerns over their sovereignty.<\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"KSAZ\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-94395e58=\"\">What we know:<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ice.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\"><strong>U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement<\/strong><\/a> apprehension took place at the Akimel Smoke Shop on <a href=\"https:\/\/maps.app.goo.gl\/wDiTixvsmieMPPot5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\"><strong>Riggs Road near Interstate 10<\/strong><\/a>. Gila River tribal officials confirmed the three men taken into custody were neither residents nor members of the indigenous community. Local <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gricsafety.org\/gila-river-police-department\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\"><strong>Gila River Police Department<\/strong><\/a> officers were called to the scene, but were ultimately not involved in the traffic stop or subsequent arrests.<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\"><strong>Map of where the ICE arrests occurred:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"KSAZ\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-94395e58=\"\">What they&#8217;re saying:<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">&#8220;We take encroachment upon the Community&#8217;s sovereignty with the utmost seriousness and urgency,&#8221; tribal leaders said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/share\/p\/19eFrn9Tqp\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\"><strong>statement following the arrests<\/strong><\/a>. &#8220;We also understand that news like this can create fear and uncertainty, even when it does not directly involve our Community members.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\"><strong>READ MORE: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox10phoenix.com\/news\/crops-robbers-arizona-cops-seize-rv-full-stolen-corn\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\"><strong>Gila River cops seize RV full of stolen corn<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">Emphasizing that the community&#8217;s strength comes from &#8220;looking out for one another, staying informed, and knowing our rights,&#8221; tribal officials encouraged residents to safely record any encounters with federal agents or ask witnesses to document interactions.<\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"KSAZ\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-94395e58=\"\">Big picture view:<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">The arrests come one day after a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/share\/p\/18inyJAFtb\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\"><strong>major legal defeat for another Arizona tribe<\/strong><\/a> regarding border enforcement on sovereign land. On Friday, a federal judge denied the Tohono O&#8217;odham Nation&#8217;s request to block border wall construction on their reservation, a ruling tribal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox10phoenix.com\/news\/arizona-tribe-says-may-arrest-federal-border-wall-workers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\"><strong>leaders warned will lead to the permanent desecration<\/strong><\/a> of ancient burial grounds and sacred sites.<\/p>\n<p class=\"group-source-paragraph\" data-v-4fbf7207=\"\"><b data-v-4fbf7207=\"\">The Source:<\/b> Information in this report was gathered from the Gila River Indian Community.<\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox10phoenix.com\/tag\/immigration\" class=\"tags-tag\" data-v-94395e58=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Immigration<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox10phoenix.com\/tag\/crime-publicsafety\" class=\"tags-tag\" data-v-94395e58=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Crime and Public Safety<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox10phoenix.com\/tag\/us\/az\/maricopa-county\/gila-river\" class=\"tags-tag\" data-v-94395e58=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Gila River<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox10phoenix.com\/tag\/news\" class=\"tags-tag\" data-v-94395e58=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">News<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"article FILE &#8211; A patch for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is seen on an officer&#8217;s vest.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1004286,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5131],"tags":[5229,5643,1587,6082,226664,409,1588,50,1589,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-1004285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-phoenix","tag-america","tag-arizona","tag-az","tag-crime-publicsafety","tag-gila-river","tag-immigration","tag-maricopa-county","tag-news","tag-phoenix","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117104864827629346","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1004285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1004285"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1004285\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1004286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1004285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1004285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1004285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}