Watchlist: ‘Natives Fear ICE Raids’

By Kamiah Koch

Social media/digital journalist

Tribal people across the country have seen an increase in contact with United States federal agents during the last few months, specifically Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

In the first week of February, ICT (formerly Indian Country Today) published a video on YouTube that reported accounts of Native Americans being detained by ICE agents during an ongoing immigration crackdown in Minnesota that is supposed to be looking for people in the country illegally.

Minnesota is home to 11 federally recognized Tribes. Many of those Tribal communities are still reconciling with the federal boarding school era experienced in the last century, where Native American children were separated from their families by U.S. federal agents and forced to assimilate. 

Video recordings of ICE agents detaining Native Americans are circulating online and triggering a painful reminder of that time.  

Executive Director of the Minneapolis American Indian Center Mary LaGrand (White Earth Band of Ojibwe) said it has been scary in Minneapolis. 

Two Americans were shot and killed by ICE agents during separate altercations in the first month of 2026, which has escalated protests against ICE’s operations.

Brothertown Indian Nation descendant and ICT reporter Amelia Schafer interviewed Native American leaders like LaGrand and Seven Star Holdings CEO Michael Stopp (Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma) to understand the Minnesota Tribal community’s response.

“What we’re seeing is that the Tribes are doing ID events here in the Twin Cities,” LaGrand said. “The White Earth Band of Ojibwe is doing free IDs, but we’ve heard that there are other Tribes that will also be having events to get IDs to their community members.”

Stopp reiterated that sentiment by saying he’s heard Tribes communicating with members to make sure they always have their Tribal IDs on them to ensure their recognition as a Native American and citizen.

“I never ever thought that I would have to wear my Tribal ID,” LaGrand said, holding up her laminated ID card connected to a beaded lanyard. “Everybody is. We are all wearing our Tribal IDs around our neck. This is ridiculous. We shouldn’t have to do this in our own land, but this is what it’s come to.”

Stopp said that although many people are frightened by the heavy presence of ICE in their community, it is a legal exercise of power from the Trump administration. Stopp encourages citizens who oppose ICE to call their representatives in congress to change it.

“We need to look at why those laws are the way they are and have them changed to reflect what we as a people want to see,” Stopp said.

You can watch the entire ICT video on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJ_1ITi96cc.