Oglala Sioux Tribe Demands Release of Members Held by ICE

The Oglala Sioux Tribe is demanding the immediate release of four of its members who were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during raids in Minneapolis last week. Tribal President Frank Star Comes Out says the detentions violate federal law, treaties between the tribe and the U.S. government, and constitutional protections owed to American citizens.

Three of the four men remain in ICE custody at Fort Snelling, a military facility in Minnesota. One man has been released. All four were arrested at a homeless encampment in the city, according to the tribe.

Background

Enrolled members of federally recognized Indian tribes are U.S. citizens. This status was granted to all Native Americans through the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924. Once their citizenship is confirmed, ICE is prohibited from placing these individuals into immigration detention.

The Oglala Sioux Tribe is one of the largest Indigenous tribal nations in the United States, with territory centered on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. The tribe has sovereign nation status and maintains its own government and legal systems.

The detention comes as the Trump administration has intensified immigration enforcement efforts. Multiple Native American tribes have reported that ICE agents have increasingly targeted tribal members in recent weeks. In November, a member of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community in Arizona was mistakenly scheduled for deportation before the error was caught. That same month, actress Elaine Miles, a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon, reported being stopped by ICE officers who questioned whether her tribal ID was authentic.

Key Details

Star Comes Out said the four detained men are experiencing homelessness and were living under a bridge in the East Phillips neighborhood of Minneapolis, near the Little Earth housing complex.

When the tribe requested information about the detained members, federal officials told them they would need to enter into an agreement with ICE and the Department of Homeland Security to receive details. The tribe has rejected this condition.

"We refuse to enter into any agreement that would legitimize or help ICE or Homeland Security's ability to arrest or detain our tribal members on our ancestral lands," Star Comes Out said in a statement.

As of January 13, federal authorities have only provided the first names of the detained men. Tribal leaders are demanding comprehensive information from the Department of Homeland Security, including full identification of all four individuals.

Star Comes Out sent a memorandum to Interior Secretary Doug Burg and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem emphasizing that enrolled tribal members are citizens of the United States by statute and citizens of the Oglala Sioux Nation by treaty. He stated that tribal citizens are "categorically outside immigration jurisdiction."

Historical Context

Fort Snelling holds significant historical weight for Native Americans. It was the first military outpost in the region and served as a concentration camp during the Dakota War of 1862, when Dakota people were imprisoned there. The facility is historically linked to the Dakota 38+2, referring to 38 Dakota men who were executed in 1862, the largest mass execution in U.S. history.

Nick Estes, an associate professor in American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota and a member of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, said the use of Fort Snelling for immigration detention represents a continuation of historical violence against Indigenous people.

"It has this really notorious anti-Indigenous, specifically anti-Dakota, history," Estes said. "It's kind of like a continuation on the monopoly of violence from the military outpost to the ICE facility."

Star Comes Out echoed this concern in his statement, noting the irony of Lakota citizens being held at a location forever linked to Dakota suffering and removal.

What This Means

The detention raises questions about whether ICE agents are properly trained to recognize tribal citizenship and whether immigration enforcement is being applied to people who fall outside the agency's jurisdiction. While ICE agents have the authority to arrest U.S. citizens under certain circumstances, they cannot legally hold them in immigration detention once citizenship is confirmed.

The tribe is demanding three things: the immediate release of all enrolled tribal citizens held by immigration authorities, written assurances that ICE will stop detaining Native Americans, and immediate government-to-government consultation.

Tribal leaders say the detention of their members is a direct violation of federal treaties, which they describe as binding commitments that cannot be negotiated or superseded by immigration enforcement.

In response to the situation, Indigenous rights groups and the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians have established places in Minneapolis where tribal citizens can apply for tribal ID cards. These documents are meant to help tribal members prove their status if they are approached by ICE. Mary LaGarde, executive director of the Minneapolis American Indian Center, said she now carries her tribal ID at all times.

The Oglala Sioux Tribe's enrollment office is organizing a pop-up event on January 16 and 17 at the Minneapolis American Indian Center to help tribal members obtain proper documentation and identification.

The Department of Homeland Security and ICE have not publicly responded to the tribe's demands or the allegations that the detentions are unlawful.