Oglala Sioux Tribe president calls for release of tribal members detained by ICE in Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS — The president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe on Tuesday called for the immediate release of tribal citizens detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at a homeless encampment in Minnesota last week.

Photo courtesy www.knba.org/: Oglala Sioux Tribe leaders said in January that ICE detained four tribal residents in South Minneapolis.

Three of the four Oglala Sioux tribal members arrested in Minneapolis on Friday were transferred to an ICE detention facility at Fort Snelling, according to a statement issued by tribal President Frank Star Comes Out. The statement accompanied a formal memorandum sent to federal immigration authorities.

“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 statute and citizens of the Oglala Sioux Nation by treaty.”

Details surrounding the detentions remain unclear. In the memorandum addressed to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Star Comes Out said the tribe was initially provided with only the first names of the men when seeking information about their custody status. Homeland Security officials declined to release further details unless the tribe entered into an immigration enforcement agreement with ICE, an option the tribe has rejected.

In a post on his Facebook page, Star Comes Out said the four men were experiencing homelessness and had been living under a bridge in Minneapolis. One of the four was later released from detention.

In the press release, Star Comes Out demanded the immediate release of all tribal citizens in ICE custody, full disclosure regarding the status of the remaining detainees, and a direct meeting between tribal leaders and federal officials.

The use of Fort Snelling as a detention site has drawn sharp criticism due to its historical significance for Indigenous communities. The site served as the first U.S. military outpost in the region, and Dakota people were imprisoned there during the Dakota War of 1862, according to Nick Estes, an associate professor of American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota and a member of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe.

“It has this really notorious anti-Indigenous, specifically anti-Dakota, history,” Estes said. “It feels like a continuation of the monopoly of violence from the military outpost to the ICE facility.”

In response to growing concerns, Indigenous rights groups and the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians have established locations in Minneapolis where tribal citizens can apply for tribal identification cards.

“I never thought I’d have my tribal ID hanging around my neck, but I do,” said Mary LaGarde, executive director of the Minneapolis American Indian Center. “It’s important that people have proper identification and not panic.”

The Minnesota detentions are not isolated incidents. Last year, leaders of the Navajo Nation reported tribal citizens in Arizona and New Mexico being stopped and detained by ICE officers. In November, a member of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community was mistakenly scheduled for deportation after an arrest in Iowa before the error was corrected.

That same month, actress Elaine Miles, a citizen of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, said she was stopped by ICE officers in Washington state who told her her tribal ID appeared fake.