Indianz.Com > News > Cronkite News: Native people overrepresented in jail system
![Selso Villegas](https://indianz.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/18/selsovillegas.jpg)
Pima County works to reduce overrepresentation of Native Americans in its jails
Tuesday, January 18, 2022
Cronkite News
PHOENIX, Arizona — Selso Villegas knows the criminal justice system well. His daughter has battled a drug addiction for years, so for the past decade, he has cared for his grandchildren, including two grandsons who have been incarcerated. But as an American Indian, Villegas and his family face additional hurdles.
“We were conquered and we were put on reservations, isolated,” said Villegas, executive director of water resources for the Tohono O’odham Nation. “So I think our biggest problem for young men and women is that we were stripped from our social development.”
Villegas’ grandsons are a part of a disproportionately large group of American Indians held in southern Arizona jails. Data from the Safety and Justice Challenge – which is funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation – shows that Native Americans are 1.8 times as likely as white Americans to be booked into a Pima County jail.
![Valena Beety](https://indianz.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/18/valenabeety.jpg)
![Danny Ortega](https://indianz.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/18/dannyortega.jpg)
![Laura Conover](https://indianz.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/18/LauraConover.jpg)
![David Sanders](https://indianz.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/18/DavidSanders.jpg)
Note: This story originally appeared on Cronkite News. It is published via a Creative Commons license. Cronkite News is produced by the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.
Search
Filed Under
Tags
More Headlines
Tom Cole: Bringing the dark history of Indian boarding schools to light
Native America Calling: How recent Supreme Court rulings affect Native American issues and interests
Family members sentenced in ‘monumental’ Indian Arts and Crafts Act case
Montana Free Press: Republicans vote to restore Confederate monument
Native America Calling: Tracking and addressing elder cognitive decline
Cronkite News: Arizona delegates stand behind Joe Biden ahead of convention
Federal judge resigns in Alaska following investigation into misconduct
Native America Calling: Notable progress for boarding school survivors
Cronkite News: Navajo Nation bears long-term impacts of nuclear testing
Senate Committee on Indian Affairs schedules legislative hearing
NAFOA: 5 Things You Need to Know this Week
Native America Calling: A Native connection to martial arts
Native America Calling: One fan’s vision to share his collection of Native music
Klamath Tribes in ‘deep mourning’ over loss of two teenage sisters
Native America Calling: Native Bookshelf with Conor Kerr
More Headlines
Native America Calling: How recent Supreme Court rulings affect Native American issues and interests
Family members sentenced in ‘monumental’ Indian Arts and Crafts Act case
Montana Free Press: Republicans vote to restore Confederate monument
Native America Calling: Tracking and addressing elder cognitive decline
Cronkite News: Arizona delegates stand behind Joe Biden ahead of convention
Federal judge resigns in Alaska following investigation into misconduct
Native America Calling: Notable progress for boarding school survivors
Cronkite News: Navajo Nation bears long-term impacts of nuclear testing
Senate Committee on Indian Affairs schedules legislative hearing
NAFOA: 5 Things You Need to Know this Week
Native America Calling: A Native connection to martial arts
Native America Calling: One fan’s vision to share his collection of Native music
Klamath Tribes in ‘deep mourning’ over loss of two teenage sisters
Native America Calling: Native Bookshelf with Conor Kerr
More Headlines