Oglala Sioux Tribe says three tribal members arrested in Minneapolis are in ICE detention
The chairman of the Oglala Sioux Tribe in South Dakota called Tuesday for the immediate release of tribal members detained at a homeless camp by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minnesota last week.
Three of the four Oglala Sioux Tribe members arrested in Minneapolis on Friday were transported to an ICE facility at Fort Snelling, Chairman Frank Star Comes Out said in a statement released in a memorandum sent to federal immigration officials.
“The Oglala Sioux Tribe’s memorandum makes clear that ‘tribal citizens are not aliens’ and are ‘categorically outside immigration jurisdiction,'” Star Comes Out said. “Enrolled tribal members are citizens of the United States by law and citizens of the Oglala Sioux Nation by treaty.”
Details of the circumstances leading to their detention were unclear.
Star Comes Out said in a memorandum sent to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem that only the names of the men were provided when the tribal nation reached out to the agency. Homeland Security declined to release further information unless the tribe “enteres into an immigration agreement with ICE.”
DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday evening.
Star Comes Out said the tribe has no plans to reach an agreement with ICE.
In a post on its Facebook page, Star Comes Out said that the four detained tribal members were experiencing homelessness and living under a bridge in Minneapolis. One of the detained members was released.
In the press release, he demanded information on the condition of the three men in custody, the release of all tribal citizens in ICE custody, and a meeting between the tribe and the government.
Fort Snelling has a troubled history for Native people. Nick Estes, an associate professor of American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota and a member of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, said it was the first military outpost on the reservation, and Dakota people were held captive there during the 1862 Dakota War, an armed conflict between the United States and Native Americans.
“He has a really notorious anti-Native, especially anti-Dakota history,” Estes said. “This is like a continuation of the monopoly on violence, from the military post to the ICE facility.”
This is not the first time ICE agents have detained tribal members in recent months.
Last year, elected leaders of the Navajo Nation said tribal citizens in Arizona and New Mexico reported being stopped and detained by ICE officers. In November, a member of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community in Arizona who was arrested in Iowa was mistakenly scheduled for deportation before the error was discovered and he was released.
That same month, Elaine Miles, a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon and an actress known for her roles in the films “Northern Exposure” and “The Last of Us,” said she was stopped by ICE officers in Washington state who told her her tribal ID looked fake.
Native rights groups and the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians have set up sites in Minneapolis where tribal citizens can apply for tribal identification cards if they are approached by ICE and required to show identification.
“I never thought I would have my tribal ID hanging around my neck, but I am,” said Mary LaGarde, executive director of the Minneapolis American Indian Center. “That’s why it’s important that they have the correct identification on them and that they don’t panic.”
