ICE Detains 4 Oglala Sioux Tribal Members in Minneapolis, Tribal President Says
Four enrolled members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe were detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Minneapolis this week, and tribal leaders are scrambling to locate them and secure their release.
The detentions of the four men, who the tribe says were homeless and living under a bridge near the Little Earth housing complex has alarmed Indigenous advocates and raised questions about how federal immigration enforcement is being carried out in the Twin Cities.
According to tribal President Frank Star Comes Out, attorneys for the tribe were “instructed” to contact Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan to find out where the detainees are being held and what their names are, because the tribe says the men were taken into custody without documentation of their identities.
Tribal officials say they are prepared to provide enrollment records and urge members approached or detained by ICE to assert their citizenship and request an attorney. But at least one of the four men was reportedly released after about 12 hours in custody, and community advocates still do not know his whereabouts.
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“This is a situation where federally recognized tribal citizens are being swept up without clarity,” said a local tribal advocate familiar with the case.
The detentions come as thousands of federal agents have been deployed to Minnesota in what the Department of Homeland Security describes as the largest immigration enforcement operation in the state’s history, stirring fear among immigrant and Native communities alike.
Tribal leaders and civil rights groups say the lack of transparency around where the Oglala Sioux men are being held and how their cases are being handled raises serious concerns about due process and racial profiling.
Attorneys for the tribe are awaiting responses from state and federal officials on how to proceed and assure families they are pursuing all avenues to reunite the men with their communities.
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