U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations are threatening Native tribal members and tribal sovereignty in several states.
Throughout January and February, tribal leaders and Native advocacy and community organizations have reported unlawful ICE activity against tribal members. Tribes that reported members who were arrested and/or detained by ICE include the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North and South Dakota, the Navajo Nation, the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the Red Lake Nation.
Additional Native nations that have released statements against ICE operations include the Oneida Nation in Wisconsin, the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians in Michigan and the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah.
The tribes condemned ICE activity and behavior that have created fear, confusion and anxiety in Indigenous communities. They called the detention of tribal citizens “unlawful” and made it clear that ICE is not welcome on Native reservations.
In late January, the Oglala Sioux Tribe banned ICE from its Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in southwestern South Dakota and northwestern Nebraska.
Officials with the Red Lake Band of Ojibwe said ICE can’t operate on their Minnesota reservation without prior consultation, according to Native America Calling, a live call-in program that highlights Indigenous issues.
Oklahoma’s Inter-Tribal Council of the Five Civilized Tribes adopted two resolutions in January: one opposing the placement and operation of a proposed ICE detention facility in Durant, Oklahoma, and the other urging the U.S. government to conduct government-to-government consultations regarding locations of ICE facilities on tribal lands.
In late January, NDN Collective, an organization based in South Dakota dedicated to building Indigenous power, published an article titled, “No one is illegal on stolen land built by stolen hands.”
“For the Dakota peoples, some of the Indigenous Peoples of Mni Sota Makoce (Minneapolis), where the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers converge is a sacred site called Bdote. It is the center of Dakota spirituality, the creation site for the origins of the Dakota people.
This is also where Fort Snelling is located, where Dakota people were imprisoned and tortured in the wake of the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862,” the NDN Collective article said.
The NDN Collective further shared: “Now, in 2026, ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) is using that very same Fort Snelling to kidnap and imprison not just undocumented people but legal residents, asylum seekers, citizens and even Indigenous peoples. We see the United States federal government once again waging a war against anyone with brown skin.”
Tribes have made it easier for people to get identification cards and have published guidelines for members to follow. Guidelines include requesting identification from ICE agents; asking for a warrant signed by a judge if approached at home;
Carrying both tribal identification and state-issued ID; documenting the encounter through video or audio; reporting the encounter to local police and obtaining legal assistance immediately. Additional precautions warn against signing anything ICE gives.
The Associated Press reported that representatives from at least 10 tribes, including Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Ojibwe of Wisconsin, the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate of South Dakota and the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa of North Dakota, traveled hundreds of miles to Minneapolis to accept ID applications from members in the state.
The Oneida Nation provided the following sample statement for people to say if ICE agents approach their home: “Are you ICE? Please show me your identification through the peephole/window. Do you have a warrant signed by a judge? Please hold it up to the peephole/window. If you do not have a valid warrant, I do not consent to your entry. Please leave your card or information.”
The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians advised tribal members to say: “I am a citizen of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, a federally recognized tribal nation.
Under the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, all Native American people born within the territorial limits of the United States are recognized as U.S. citizens by birthright. I am both a tribal citizen and a U.S. citizen. Therefore, ICE has no lawful authority to detain me.”
The Native American Rights Fund issued a statement in January condemning ICE’s “unlawful actions.”
“We stand with our neighbors—whatever their country of birth—who are getting ripped away from their families or violently apprehended for their lawful efforts to protect their communities. ICE’s ongoing campaign of violence marked by racial profiling, warrantless arrests, excessive force, and a total lack of accountability, must end now,” the statement said.
It characterized the arrests and detentions of Native Americans as blatantly violating Native American treaties and Native Americans’ constitutional and civil rights.
“Across Indian Country, we are seeing Native American people illegally stopped, abused or detained by ICE agents. It is hard to miss the irony of locking up the first people of this land in an immigration sweep,”
The Native American Rights Fund’s executive director, John Echohawk, said in the statement. “It’s indicative of the racial profiling that is happening, and we refuse to stand by while the United States government abducts Native people.”
“Native American rights are being trampled by federal agents, and there must be accountability for these actions,” Matthew L. Campbell, the organization’s deputy director, said.