AKWESASNE – (Seskehkó:wa/September 26, 2025) The Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe is issuing this Statement in response to a recent article about two individuals indicted for conspiracy to commit alien smuggling. In the article, Acting U.S. Attorney John A. Sarcone III was quoted, “As alleged, Coffey and Cook, through their own greed to make a quick dollar, furthered the interests of dangerous alien smuggling organizations that put the people of our country in danger. What’s more, they utilized the Akwesasne Reservation, which has been used by smugglers as a revolving door for moving aliens, drugs, and other contraband into the United States. My office will continue to aggressively prosecute alien smugglers, like Coffey and Cook, who put our country at risk.”
The comments from Acting U.S. Attorney Sarcone about Akwesasne are deeply concerning and reflect an unfamiliarity of the highly successful three decades-long interagency partnerships that have been critical in addressing border-related crimes. The indictments Mr. Sarcone touts as major progress in border security was initiated by Akwesasne law enforcement by their initial pursuit of the two individuals. His mischaracterization of Akwesasne as a “revolving door” for “moving aliens, drugs, and other contraband into the U.S.” ignores the hundreds of apprehensions made possible through collaborative partnerships between Akwesasne and law enforcement and border protection agencies on both sides of the U.S./Canada border. Mr. Sarcone’s statement not only insults the community of Akwesasne, but also those agencies with whom we partner to effectuate border security.
For hundreds of years, our people have protected this land, and many of our men and women have proudly served in the armed forces to protect this country. The Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal Police, along with community members, remain committed to protecting our community as well as our neighboring communities from crime. While there will always be individuals—both inside and outside our community—who break the law or seek to exploit our unique geographical location, it was wrong for Mr. Sarcone to make such an ill-founded statement that perpetuates stereotypes, generalizations, and mischaracterizations of our community. We sincerely hope that Mr. Sarcone realizes this misstep and takes the initiative to educate himself about our community and assume the role of partner, not adversary.
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The Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal Council is the duly elected and federally recognized government of the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe.