Native Americans urged to carry IDs
Federal immigration officers prepare to enter a home to make an arrest after an officer used a battering ram to break down a door Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis.
(AP Photo/John Locher)
(AP) – Tribal leaders and Native American rights organizations are advising anyone with a tribal ID to carry it with them when out in public in case they are approached by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.
Native Americans across the U.S. have reported being stopped or detained by ICE, and tribal leaders are asking members to report these contacts.
Ben Barnes, chief of the Shawnee Tribe in Oklahoma and chair of the United Indian Nations of Oklahoma, called the reports “deeply concerning”.
Organizers in Minneapolis have set up application booths in the city to assist people needing a tribal ID.
Democratic members of Congress held a local meeting Friday to hear from people who say they’ve had aggressive encounters with immigration agents.
St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her, who is Hmong American, said people are walking around with their passports in case they are challenged, and she has received reports of ICE agents going from door to door “asking where the Asian people live.” Thousands of Hmong people, largely from the Southeast Asian nation of Laos, have settled in the United States since the 1970s.
REALTED: Federal immigration agents filmed dragging a woman from her car in Minneapolis
REALTED: No immediate court decision on a request to stop the immigration crackdown in Minnesota
