Fearing misidentification, tribal leaders across the country are advising tribal members what to if they're approached by federal law enforcement officials, as the Trump administration scales up deportation efforts. Members should carry their tribal identification cards with them at all times and know their rights if approached, leaders say. But tribal members face a threat, because of a history of state and federal officials who don’t understand that tribal IDS are proof of U.S. citizenship, NPR reports. "The history of being misidentified is long," said Judith Le Blanc, executive director of the Native Organizers Alliance and a citizen of the Caddo Nation. Le Blanc said that with the Trump administration tapping other law enforcement agencies, such as the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration, for immigration duties, there is more room for distrust and confusion.
Just days after President Trump took office, reports began reaching tribal leaders in the Southwest about encounters with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers. While tribal leaders said several reports were unverified, a letter to Trump sent on Tuesday from Democrats from Arizona, New Mexico and California said one confirmed incident in a New Mexico convenience store is "spreading fear in communities that have existed since time immemorial." The Democrats said that in the incident, an ICE officer questioned a Mescalero tribal member's citizenship even after being shown tribal identification. In response, the Mescalero Apache and Navajo Nation both put out press releases urging tribal members to carry their tribal and other identification with them at all times. To address fears, the Navajo Nation president set up a hotline for reporting federal law enforcement activity. And last week, the Winnebago Tribal Council in Nebraska approved free tribal identification cards for all aged tribal members "as an effort to protect Tribal members of all ages from I.C.E." While testifying before the Senate, new Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem touted her relationship working with tribes as the governor of South Dakota. But as governor, Noem had been banned from entering the lands of nine tribes in the state, though at least one tribe has since lifted that ban.
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