Tribal nations near the Four Corners are offering guidance to their members as fears of contact with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents – and mostly unsubstantiated rumors – rise within Indigenous communities.
Leaders of the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute tribes are urging members to carry multiple forms of identification and call local officials in the event that they are detained by federal immigration agents.
In statements disseminated through social media, the Southern Ute Indian Tribal Council is telling members to ensure that both state and tribal IDs are up to date. The council also warned members to keep contact of friends and family information readily available.
“There has been a recent federal response on illegal immigration in this country and those who are citizens may be improperly detained as part of these operations,” the council said in a Jan. 24 statement. “There have been no reports of ICE presence or improper detentions in our area.”
Officials spoke with ICE and were informed that deportation efforts, which have ramped up nationwide since the Jan. 20 inauguration of President Donald Trump, are targeting undocumented individuals who have committed serious crimes, have existing deportation orders or “pose a potential risk to our community,” according to a Jan. 29 statement.
Technically, most tribal members are dual citizens of the U.S. and their sovereign tribal nation.
But a legal filing related to the Jan. 20 executive order signed by Trump seeking to overturn birthright citizenship seemed to call that into question. The U.S. Justice Department’s argument invoked an 1884 Supreme Court ruling that found that Native Americans are not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States and therefore are not entitled to citizenship as defined in the 14th Amendment.
“They’re attacking Native Americans and Mexicans – immigrants that might not be documented that are in the country – that’s what they’re targeting,” Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Chairman Manuel Heart said during a special announcement broadcast on the tribe’s YouTube channel Jan. 27. “But in the mix of it, they’re looking at us all as being noncitizens of this country.”
Indian citizenship was formally codified into law in 1924.
Heart warned members to inspect any warrants closely, keep an eye on young children and to call 911 if federal immigration authorities show up at a home.
On the Navajo Nation in New Mexico, Utah and Arizona, officials have also set up a tip line to report ICE activity, The Tri-City Record reported.
In a brief interview Thursday, a spokesman for ICE declined to comment on “current or future operations,” in Southwest Colorado.
Tribal members stopped by immigration authorities on the Southern Ute reservation may call Southern Ute Police Department nonemergency dispatch at 563-4401. The tip line set up on the Navajo Nation, Operation Rainbow Bridge, can be contacted at (855) 435-7672 or emailing info@operationrainbowbridge.com. Heart encouraged UMU members to contact 911.
rschafir@durangoherald.com
