ICE Targeting of Indigenous Americans — The First Peoples Detained by the Mortui Vivos Docent¶

Published by: Mortui Vivos Docent Intelligence Project
Date: February 11, 2026
Type: Pattern Analysis — Racial Profiling of Native Americans
Confidence: HIGH

Executive Summary¶

Since the launch of Operation Metro Surge in December 2025 and its massive expansion in January 2026, federal immigration enforcement agents have systematically detained, harassed, and brutalized Indigenous Americans — the first peoples of this continent. At least a dozen documented incidents span from Minneapolis to Phoenix to Washington state, involving members of the Oglala Sioux, Navajo Nation, Red Lake Nation, Standing Rock Sioux, Mescalero Apache, Salt River Pima-Maricopa, and Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla.

The pattern is unmistakable: ICE agents are stopping people based on skin color, demanding proof of citizenship from people whose ancestors lived on this land for millennia before the United States existed, and ignoring or rejecting valid tribal identification documents when presented. In multiple cases, agents used physical force against compliant individuals. In one case, agents threatened a detained Navajo man's children.

This is not an aberration. It is the latest chapter in a 500-year campaign of dispossession, removal, and erasure against Indigenous peoples. The federal government that once marched 1,658 Dakota women, children, and elders to a concentration camp at Fort Snelling now detains Indigenous Americans at the same site — the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, which sits on Fort Snelling grounds and serves as Operation Metro Surge headquarters.

Key findings:

At least 5 Native Americans detained in Minneapolis during Operation Metro Surge (4 Oglala Sioux, 1 Red Lake Nation descendant)
Peter Yazzie (Navajo) detained 4 hours in Phoenix despite having birth certificate, driver's license, and Certificate of Indian Blood
Unnamed Navajo woman detained 9 hours in Scottsdale workplace raid
Elaine Miles (actress, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla) asked "Are you Mexican?" in Washington state
Leticia Jacobo (Salt River Pima-Maricopa) had ICE detainer placed on her in Iowa — nearly deported
Mescalero Apache member questioned in Spanish, asked for passport in New Mexico
Oglala Sioux Tribe banned ICE and Border Patrol from Pine Ridge Reservation
10+ tribes traveled to Minneapolis to process emergency tribal IDs
Native community patrols mobilized approximately 100 patrollers in Minneapolis
Prayer camp erected at Fort Snelling — site of the 1862 Dakota concentration camp

Historical Context: 500 Years of Dispossession¶

Colonization and Population Collapse¶

Before European contact, an estimated 5-15 million Indigenous people lived in what is now the United States, speaking more than 300 languages. By 1900, only approximately 237,000 remained — a population collapse of 95-98%, driven by warfare, disease (often deliberately introduced), starvation, and systematic extermination campaigns.

George Washington's administration established the policy of "civilizing" Native Americans — forcing assimilation as an alternative to extermination. This framing — that Indigenous peoples must be transformed or destroyed — defined federal Indian policy for the next two centuries.

The Indian Removal Act and the Trail of Tears (1830-1850)¶

On May 28, 1830, President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, authorizing the forced relocation of Indigenous nations from their ancestral homelands in the Southeast to lands west of the Mississippi. The Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, Seminole, and numerous other nations were forced to march up to 2,200 miles.

Nearly 4,000 Cherokee died on the march. Thousands more from other nations perished. The Trail of Tears was not a single event but a series of forced removals spanning two decades — each one a calculated act of ethnic cleansing designed to seize Indigenous land for white settlement.

The Dakota War and Fort Snelling Concentration Camp (1862-1863)¶

On November 7, 1862, 1,658 Dakota non-combatants — primarily women, children, and elders — were forced to march 150 miles to Fort Snelling, Minnesota. Along the route, white mobs attacked them with bricks, rocks, and boiling water.

At Fort Snelling, they were imprisoned in a concentration camp through the winter of 1862-1863. The Minnesota Historical Society's own marker at the site states: "a concentration camp is a place where people are imprisoned not because they committed any crimes but simply because of who they are."

Between 130 and 300 Dakota died in the camp from disease, starvation, and violence. Soldiers committed sexual violence against Dakota women. In Mankato, 38 Dakota men were executed on December 26, 1862 — the largest mass execution in United States history, ordered by President Abraham Lincoln.

In April 1863, Congress abolished the Dakota reservation, declared all treaties null and void, and ordered the Dakota expelled from Minnesota. The state issued a $25 bounty per scalp on any Dakota male found within its borders.

This is the same Fort Snelling where ICE now detains people under Operation Metro Surge.

Indian Boarding Schools (1819-1969)¶

For 150 years, the federal government operated more than 400 boarding schools designed to destroy Indigenous cultures. Children were removed from their families — often by force. At the schools, their braids were cut, they were forbidden to speak their native languages, they were beaten, sexually abused, and died at six times the rate of non-Indigenous children.

Captain Richard Henry Pratt, founder of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, stated the mission explicitly: "Kill the Indian in him, and save the man." At Carlisle alone, nearly 200 children are buried in the school cemetery. The total number who died across the system remains unknown.

No official U.S. government apology has been issued. No reparations have been paid.

Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIW)¶

The ongoing crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women is a direct consequence of centuries of dispossession:

Indigenous women are murdered at 10 times the national average
Murder is the third leading cause of death for Indigenous women and girls
84.3% have experienced violence in their lifetime
56.1% have experienced sexual violence

May 5 is National MMIW Awareness Day. The REDress Project, started in 2010, hangs red dresses in public spaces — red is the only color spirits can see in many tribal traditions.

The Citizenship Act of 1924¶

The Indian Citizenship Act, signed by President Calvin Coolidge on June 2, 1924, granted birthright U.S. citizenship to all Native Americans born within the United States. At the time, approximately 125,000 of 300,000 Indigenous people still lacked citizenship.

The law established dual citizenship — tribal and U.S. citizenship coexist. It is unambiguous: every Native American born in the United States is a U.S. citizen by statute. ICE has no immigration jurisdiction over any of them.

Even after the Act, seven states denied Indigenous people the vote through 1938. Arizona and New Mexico maintained voting bans until 1948. Full voting rights were not secured until the Civil Rights Act of 1965.

The 2026 Wave: Documented Incidents¶

Operation Metro Surge Context¶

Operation Metro Surge launched in December 2025 and was expanded on January 6, 2026, with DHS calling it "the largest immigration enforcement operation ever carried out." 2,000 ICE officers and 1,000 Border Patrol officers were deployed to the Twin Cities, which hosts one of the largest urban Native American populations in the country.

By mid-January: 3,400+ arrests. By February: the White House claimed 4,000+. On January 28, Chief U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz found ICE had violated at least 96 court orders in Minnesota since January 1, 2026.

Two U.S. citizens were killed by federal agents during the operation: Renee Macklin Good (January 7) and Alex Pretti (January 24).

Four Oglala Sioux Members Detained (Minneapolis)¶

Date: Approximately January 9-10, 2026
Location: Under a bridge near Little Earth Housing, Minneapolis

ICE agents detained four citizens of the Oglala Sioux Tribe at a homeless encampment. At least one was held for 12 hours. Three were transferred to the ICE facility at Fort Snelling's Whipple Building — the site of the 1862 Dakota concentration camp.

Tribal President Frank Star Comes Out demanded immediate release, stating: "tribal citizens are not aliens" and are "categorically outside immigration jurisdiction."

When the tribe sought information about its members, ICE provided only first names and demanded the tribe enter into a 287(g) immigration agreement as a condition for further information. The tribe unanimously rejected this demand.

Sources: ICT News, CNN, Axios, Fox 9, Democracy Now!, SDPB

Jose Roberto "Beto" Ramirez — Red Lake Nation Descendant (Minneapolis)¶

Date: January 9, 2026
Age: 20 years old

Less than 24 hours after ICE fatally shot Renee Good, agents in a black Ford SUV followed Ramirez while he drove to his aunt's house. They forcibly removed him from a vehicle at a HyVee parking lot. Video footage shows agents striking him multiple times on the head and face. His phone was slapped from his hand. He was zip-tied and held approximately 6.5 hours — three of those outside in the cold with no bathroom, food, or water.

"I felt like I was kidnapped," he said. His aunt told agents: "This is my nephew, he's a citizen, we're Native."

ICE filed no charges and provided no reason for the stop.

Sources: ICT News (two articles), multiple local outlets

Peter Yazzie — Navajo Nation (Phoenix Area)¶

Date: January 12, 2026
Occupation: Construction worker from Chinle, Arizona

Yazzie was sitting in his car at a gas station in Peoria, preparing for work, when ICE vehicles pulled in. "Everything just happened real fast." Agents pushed him to the ground, zip-tied his hands, and took him into custody despite being presented with his driver's license, birth certificate, and federal Certificate of Indian Blood.

He was held approximately 4 hours. During detention, agents told him they would "get" his children next.

"It's an ugly feeling. It makes you feel less human. To know that people see your features and think so little of you."

Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren called the detention "unacceptable" and demanded accountability.

Sources: ABC15, AZ Family, AZCentral, KJZZ, ABC News/AP, Navajo Nation

Unnamed Navajo Woman — 9-Hour Detention (Scottsdale)¶

Date: January 22, 2026
Location: Workplace in Scottsdale, Arizona

During a workplace raid, 14 people were lined up for questioning. According to Arizona State Senator Theresa Hatathlie (Navajo), who detailed the account, the woman believed 8 of the 14 were Native American.

The woman texted her aunt before her phone was confiscated, repeatedly telling agents "I'm Navajo, I'm from the Navajo Nation." She had no tribal documentation on her. Her mother eventually sent a photograph of her Certificate of Indian Blood.

ICE agents did not know what "Navajo" meant.

Senator Hatathlie questioned why the same detentions never happen to "Jewish, Swedish or Russian people" — noting "they all involve people who have brown skin."

Sources: 12 News, Native News Online, KTAR, Arizona PBS, Searchlight New Mexico

Elaine Miles — Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla (Washington State)¶

Date: November 3, 2025
Location: Bus stop in Redmond, Washington

Elaine Miles, an actress known for "Northern Exposure" and HBO's "The Last of Us," was waiting for a bus when an ICE agent ran up to her with his hand on his gun.

He asked: "Are you Mexican?"

She replied: "No, I'm not. I'm Native American. You want to see my tribal ID?"

The agent also questioned her tribal ID, claiming it appeared counterfeit. Days later, her son was questioned by immigration enforcement at a higher education institution in Bellevue.

Sources: KUOW (Seattle NPR), ABC News/AP

Leticia Jacobo — Salt River Pima-Maricopa (Iowa)¶

Date: November 2025
Age: 24 years old
Location: Polk County Jail, Des Moines, Iowa

Jacobo, born in Phoenix and a citizen of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, was jailed for a traffic violation. An ICE detainer was placed on her file — her records confused with those of another inmate, a Mexican national with the same surname.

The day before her release, her mother was told Jacobo would be turned over to immigration agents instead. The family mobilized through social media, connecting with the Meskwaki Nation and other organizations. Her mother brought her birth certificate to the jail and stayed until she was freed.

"How do I have an ICE hold, when I'm Native American?" Jacobo said. Her family noted she had tribal ID, had been fingerprinted, had her Social Security number on file, and had been booked into the same jail before.

The county called it a "clerical error." ICE claimed Jacobo "was not detained."

Sources: ICT News, KJZZ, Snopes, Newsweek, Jezebel, Buffalo's Fire, AZ Luminaria, KCCI

Mescalero Apache Member — Questioned in Spanish (New Mexico)¶

Date: January 22, 2025
Location: Public place in Ruidoso, New Mexico

An ICE agent approached a Mescalero Apache tribal member and began speaking in Spanish. The member replied they spoke English. The agent demanded to see a passport. The member presented their driver's license and tribal ID; the agent ended questioning.

This occurred more than two hours from the U.S.-Mexico border. Mescalero Apache Tribe President Thora Walsh-Padilla confirmed the incident.

Sources: KTSM, Sandoval Signpost, KVIA, Hoodline, Searchlight New Mexico

Rachel Dionne-Thunder — Plains Cree (Minneapolis)¶

Date: Early January 2026
Location: Near Powwow Grounds coffee shop, Minneapolis

ICE agents attempted to detain Dionne-Thunder, co-founder of the Indigenous Protectors Movement, while she sat in her car. Coffee shop workers intervened to protect her. She recorded the incident on Facebook Live.

Source: ICT News

Aggregate: 15+ Navajo Nation Members Questioned or Detained¶

The Navajo Nation Council reported that at least 15 tribal members were stopped at their workplace or home, questioned, and in some cases detained during immigration sweeps in Arizona and New Mexico. Despite possessing Certificates of Indian Blood and state-issued IDs, several were detained by agents who did not recognize these documents as valid proof of citizenship.

Tribal Response¶

Emergency Tribal ID Campaigns¶

Dozens of the 575 federally recognized tribal nations launched emergency measures:

Waiving application fees for tribal IDs
Lowering age eligibility requirements
Expediting card production
Operating pop-up processing events in urban centers

Representatives from at least 10 tribes traveled hundreds of miles to Minneapolis to process ID applications, including the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Ojibwe, Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, and Three Affiliated Tribes of North Dakota (one representative drove 9 hours to provide 84 IDs).

David Wilkins, a Native politics expert at the University of Richmond, stated: "I don't think there's anything historically comparable."

Approximately 70% of Native Americans live in urban areas, often far from reservations where tribal IDs are typically issued. Minneapolis hosts tens of thousands of urban Native residents.

Oglala Sioux Tribe Bans ICE from Pine Ridge¶

On January 29, 2026, the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council approved Ordinance No. 26-05, banning federal immigration officers from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The council also unanimously rejected the federal 287(g) program.

Tribal President Frank Star Comes Out stated: "tribal citizens are not aliens and are categorically outside immigration jurisdiction."

Council representative Anna Halverson invoked treaty rights: "According to 1868 and 1851 treaties, we're guaranteed peace from our treaties with this government."

Star Comes Out also cited DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, who as South Dakota Governor made false claims about cartels on reservations. All nine Indigenous tribes in South Dakota had banned Noem from their lands.

NARF Legal Mobilization¶

The Native American Rights Fund issued a formal condemnation (January 16, 2026):

John Echohawk, Executive Director: "Across Indian Country, we are seeing Native American people illegally stopped, abused, or detained by ICE agents."
Jaqueline De Leon, Senior Staff Attorney (Isleta Pueblo): "As the first people of this land, there's no reason why Native Americans should have their citizenship questioned."

NARF created a dedicated resource page and offered legal support for tribal leadership and citizens.

Community Defense: Indigenous Patrols¶

Three organizations launched coordinated community patrols in Minneapolis:

American Indian Movement (AIM) — founded in Minneapolis in 1968 in response to police violence — resumed street patrols for the first time in decades.

Indigenous Protector Movement — led by Crow Bellecourt, son of AIM co-founder Clyde Bellecourt — runs the Many Shields Warrior Society patrol program with approximately 100 patrollers operating from 7 AM to past midnight. Services include rides for elders and youth, ICE sighting monitoring via handheld radios, diaper delivery to mothers afraid to leave home, and soup and gasoline gift cards for legal observers.

Little Earth Protectors — community defense for the Little Earth housing complex, the only Indigenous preference housing project in the country.

Bellecourt: "I grew up in the movement. I always like to say, 'I'm second-generation American Indian Movement.' It's, like, full circle for me."

Prayer Camp at Fort Snelling¶

On February 10, 2026, Native activists erected four tipis and lit a sacred fire at Coldwater Spring (Mni Owe Sni) at Fort Snelling — a site sacred to Dakota and other tribes, 1.5 miles from the Whipple Building where ICE detains people.

Participants included Dakota descendants, Crow Creek Sioux members, and members of the Niskithe Prayer Camp from Nebraska.

Brian LaBatte, a descendant of the Shakopee Mdewakanton: "It's just repeating history. The government stealing families, stealing kids."

Both the spring and the Whipple Building sit on Fort Snelling, where the U.S. government imprisoned more than 1,600 Dakota people in a concentration camp in 1862-63 and where hundreds died.

Legal Framework¶

The Citizenship Act of 1924¶

The Indian Citizenship Act states: "All non citizen Indians born within the territorial limits of the United States be, and they are hereby, declared to be citizens of the United States."

This law is absolute. Every Native American born in the United States is a citizen. ICE has no immigration jurisdiction over any of them.

Tribal Sovereignty and Treaty Rights¶

Tribal nations are sovereign entities with government-to-government relationships with the United States, established through treaties including the Treaty of Fort Laramie (1851 and 1868), Treaty of Fort Stanwix (1784), and Treaty of Canandaigua (1794).

Federal immigration agents operating on tribal lands without consent violate these treaty obligations. The Oglala Sioux Tribe's Ordinance No. 26-05 asserts this principle.

Fourth Amendment Violations¶

The documented detentions violate the Fourth Amendment. District Judge Kate Menendez issued a partial preliminary injunction restricting agents' conduct in Operation Metro Surge. Chief Judge Schiltz found ICE violated at least 96 court orders.

ProPublica: 170+ U.S. Citizens Detained¶

A ProPublica investigation found more than 170 U.S. citizens held by immigration agents, including a Mescalero Apache member pulled from a store and asked for a passport more than two hours from the border.

Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino revealed the profiling methodology to a white reporter: "How do they look compared to, say, you?"

Connection to Raymond Mattia: Border Patrol Kills Indigenous Man on His Own Land¶

On May 18, 2023, Border Patrol agents killed Raymond Mattia, a 58-year-old member of the Tohono O'odham Nation, outside his home in Menagers Dam village on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Mattia had called law enforcement for help with trespassers on his property. Seven vehicles arrived. He stepped outside, complied with orders, discarded his weapons when told. Agents yelled at him to remove his hand from his jacket. One second after he did, three agents opened fire.

The medical examiner ruled it a homicide. Mattia was shot nine times. Body camera footage confirmed what agents thought was a gun was his cellphone.

Raymond Mattia was a community council member, a traditional singer, an artist who made jewelry and pottery honoring the borderlands. He had been outspoken against corruption involving border law enforcement.

He was unarmed. He was on his own land. He had called for help. They killed him.

The Justice Department declined to charge the agents. The family's wrongful death lawsuit is progressing.

The Tohono O'odham reservation straddles the U.S.-Mexico border. The tribe predates both countries by millennia. The border crossed them.

Pattern Analysis: Racial Profiling as Policy¶

Every documented incident shares common characteristics:

1. Skin color as probable cause. Agents target individuals who appear to have brown skin. Bovino's "how do they look compared to, say, you?" is the quiet part said aloud.

2. Assumption of foreignness. "Are you Mexican?" (to Elaine Miles). Speaking Spanish to a Mescalero Apache member. Not knowing what "Navajo" means. The presumption: brown skin equals foreign equals deportable.

3. Rejection of valid documentation. Tribal IDs dismissed. Certificates of Indian Blood ignored. State-issued IDs questioned. One agent claimed a federal tribal ID was counterfeit.

4. Disproportionate force. Peter Yazzie pushed to the ground while presenting documents. Jose Roberto Ramirez struck on the face and neck while complying. Raymond Mattia shot while following orders. Compliance does not equal safety when skin color is the crime.

5. Threats and psychological warfare. Agents threatened Yazzie's children. Ramirez described feeling "kidnapped." Multiple detainees held without bathroom access, food, water, or phone access.

6. Institutional indifference. DHS did not respond to comment requests. Republican lawmakers expressed no awareness. Rep. McDowell: "There will be mistakes."

The Continuum¶

Era	Tool	Method
1830s	Indian Removal Act	Forced march, death
1862	Military order	Concentration camp, execution
1879-1969	Boarding schools	Cultural destruction, forced assimilation
2023	Border Patrol	Shooting on tribal land (Mattia)
2025-2026	ICE/CBP	Racial profiling, detention, violence

The tools change. The target does not. The assumption does not: Indigenous peoples do not belong in their own homeland.

Congressional Response¶

Democrats¶

Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-NM): "The administration is targeting any person of color at the present moment and violating both the civil and due process rights of countless Americans."
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN): The detentions of Native Americans "tells you just how unlawful these stops and detentions are."
Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ): ICE is "retaliatory" and "forcing tribal communities to allow them on their land."
Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ): Tribal identification "should be enough for the harassment to end."

Republicans¶

Rep. Addison McDowell (R-NC): "There will be mistakes."
Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK): "I think they're doing the best they can with the information they have."
Several Republican members of the subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs said they were not aware of the problem. Many did not engage with questions about prevention.

State Level¶

Arizona State Senator Theresa Hatathlie (Navajo): Publicly detailed the 9-hour detention of her niece. Questioned why the same never happens to people who are not brown.
Minnesota AG, Minneapolis, St. Paul: Filed lawsuit to halt Operation Metro Surge.
New Mexico AG Raul Torrez: Issued guidance on protections against unreasonable search and seizure.

Source Verification Matrix¶

Claim	Sources	Confidence
4 Oglala Sioux detained in Minneapolis	ICT, CNN, Axios, Fox 9, SDPB	HIGH
Jose Roberto Ramirez detained, beaten	ICT (2 articles), multiple local	HIGH
Peter Yazzie detained 4 hours	ABC15, AZ Family, KJZZ, ABC/AP, Navajo Nation	HIGH
Navajo woman detained 9 hours	12 News, Native News Online, KTAR, AZ PBS	HIGH
Elaine Miles asked "Are you Mexican?"	KUOW, ABC/AP	HIGH
Leticia Jacobo nearly deported	ICT, KJZZ, Snopes, Newsweek, 8+ outlets	HIGH
Mescalero Apache questioned in NM	KTSM, KVIA, tribal statement, 5+ outlets	HIGH
15+ Navajo members questioned/detained	Navajo Nation Council statement	HIGH
Oglala Sioux banned ICE from Pine Ridge	Multiple outlets, tribal ordinance	HIGH
10+ tribes sent ID processing to Minneapolis	ABC/AP, ICT, multiple outlets	HIGH
~100 Indigenous patrollers mobilized	ICT, Truthout, Globe and Mail	HIGH
Prayer camp at Fort Snelling	Minnesota Reformer, multiple outlets	HIGH
Raymond Mattia killed by Border Patrol	The Intercept, AZPM, KJZZ, CBP body cam	HIGH
Fort Snelling was Dakota concentration camp	MN Historical Society, ICT	CONFIRMED
Citizenship Act of 1924	Federal law (P.L. 68-175)	CONFIRMED
170+ citizens detained by ICE	ProPublica investigation	HIGH
ICE violated 96+ court orders in MN	Chief Judge Schiltz ruling	CONFIRMED

Sources¶

Primary Sources¶

Navajo Nation OPVP. "President Nygren Responds to Detention of Dine Citizen by ICE." Jan. 17, 2026.
Native American Rights Fund. "NARF Statement on Unlawful ICE Activity." Jan. 16, 2026.
Oglala Sioux Tribe. Presidential Proclamation and Ordinance No. 26-05. Jan. 29, 2026.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Body camera footage, Mattia shooting. June 23, 2023.

Investigative Journalism¶

ProPublica. "More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents." Oct. 2025.
The Intercept. "Border Patrol Video Shows Native Man Had No Gun, Complied With Orders." June 26, 2023.
ICT News. "Five Native Americans detained by ICE during ongoing raids in Minneapolis." Jan. 2026.
ICT News. "'I felt like I was kidnapped': Ojibwe man recounts ICE detainment." Jan. 2026.
ICT News. "'Full Circle': AIM patrols back on Minneapolis streets." Jan. 2026.
ICT News. "Former Native American concentration camp lies beneath current detention center." Jan. 2026.
ICT News. "Salt River Pima citizen nearly deported." Nov. 2025.

News Coverage¶

KJZZ. "Navajos detained, harassed by ICE." Jan. 31, 2026.
ABC News/AP. "Fearing ICE, Native Americans rush to prove belonging." Jan. 2026.
ABC15. "Navajo man opens up about being detained by ICE." Jan. 2026.
Times of San Diego. "Native Americans increasingly swept up by ICE." Jan. 26, 2026.
KUOW. "ICE stops Native American actress Elaine Miles in Redmond." Dec. 2, 2025.
CNN. "Oglala Sioux Tribe says three members in ICE detention." Jan. 14, 2026.
Axios. "Oglala Sioux Tribe says ICE illegally holding tribal members." Jan. 13, 2026.
Democracy Now! "ICE Jails Oglala Sioux at Fort Snelling." Jan. 15, 2026.
Minnesota Reformer. "Native activists set up prayer camp." Feb. 10, 2026.
12 News. "Navajo Nation council calls for action." Jan. 2026.

Legal and Historical¶

Indian Citizenship Act of 1924. P.L. 68-175, 43 Stat. 253.
Minnesota Historical Society. "The US-Dakota War of 1862."
National Boarding School Healing Coalition. "US Indian Boarding School History."
NIWRC. "Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives."

Published by Mortui Vivos Docent Intelligence Project
Methodology: Bellingcat-standard OSINT — public sources only