Native Americans detained in Minnesota ICE raids

Federal agents have detained a handful of Native Americans amid the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota.

The detention of at least five men in and around Minneapolis has sparked an outcry among Native American groups about Indigenous people being racially profiled as undocumented immigrants by federal immigration agents. Minneapolis is one of the largest urban centers for Native Americans in the United States.

“It is deeply offensive and ironic that the first people of this land would be subjected to questions around their citizenship,” Jacqueline De Leon, senior staff attorney at the nonprofit Native American Rights Fund and a member of the Isleta Pueblo. “Yet nevertheless, that is exactly what we’re seeing.”

USA TODAY ‌previously spoke with Native American citizens worried about getting caught at the start of President Donald Trump’s push to apprehend and deport millions of immigrants suspected of being undocumented. ‌The incidents against Native people appear to be increasing.

On Jan. 8, Immigration and ‌Customs Enforcement agents arrested Jose Roberto “Beto” Ramirez, a 20-year-old Red Lake Nation descendant, outside of Minneapolis during a traffic stop his aunt filmed. He was later released and no charges were filed as of Jan. 9, Indian Country Today reported.

In a statement, ICE said Ramirez “violently assaulted” an ICE officer during a “high-risk immigration enforcement stop.” The investigation is ongoing, ICE said.

The same day as Ramirez’s ​arrest, Oglala Sioux Tribal President Frank Star Comes Out said four tribal members had been ‌detained by ICE. The four men were homeless, ⁠sleeping under a bridge near the Little Earth housing project, he said in a Jan. 8 Facebook post.

On Jan. 13, the Oglala Sioux Tribe said three of the men are still in detention after being transferred ‌to an ICE detention center at Fort Snelling in Minnesota. One man has been released.

In a memorandum, the Oglala Sioux Tribe said the detention of the men violates “tribal treaties, statutory law and constitutional rights of sovereign people.” The memorandum said that when the tribe attempted to request more information, ‌federal officials said the tribe could access more information if it entered into an agreement with ICE and the Department of Homeland Security.

“This is not a misunderstanding or an enforcement discretion issue,” Star Comes Out said in a statement. “This is a treaty violation. Treaties are not optional. Sovereignty is not conditional. Our citizens are not negotiable.”

Neither ICE nor DHS immediately responded to ‌emailed questions about the incident or the ​tribe’s memorandum.

Star Comes ‌Out, like other tribal leaders, issued information about what to do if a Native person was approached or detained by ICE. The Native American Rights Fund also released a “Know Your Rights” flyer. In the Southwest, Navajo Nation leaders advised citizens last January to carry their Certificate of Indian Blood or tribal identification card. Groups have also expanded hours ‌to distribute tribal identification documents.

Tribal citizens can use tribal IDs as proof of citizenship, but many federal officers are unaware of this proof of identification, said Caroline LaPorte, a staff attorney at the Indian Law Resource Center and a descendant of the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians. ​Some may have difficulty providing their identification, especially if they’re experiencing homelessness, LaPorte said.

She added recent stops of Native people also point to so-called “Kavanaugh stops,” referring to a Sept. 8 Supreme Court decision allowing ICE to use race, accent, job, or location to detain people. Justice Brett Kavanaugh largely upheld ICE sweeps in Los Angeles that indiscriminately targeted Latinos suspected of being undocumented.

“Why would a Native person be ⁠detained? It’s because they’re brown,” LaPorte said. “That’s it. It’s that racial profiling piece from that case that has everyone ​so up in arms.”

A day before Ramirez’s stop, the Red Lake Tribal Council issued a Jan. 7 advisory about the ⁠Trump administration’s enforcement in Minnesota. “We all need to be extra careful, and we must assume that ICE will not protect us,” the advisory said.