The absurdity of sending indigenous Americans to an ICE facility:
The president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe in South Dakota said three of the four tribal members detained by ICE agents in Minneapolis last week have been...
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The president of Oglala Sioux Tribe in South Dakota on Tuesday called for the immediate release of tribal members who were detained at a homeless encampment by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minnesota last week.
Three of the four Oglala Sioux Tribe members who were arrested in Minneapolis on Friday have been transferred to an ICE facility at Fort Snelling, President Frank Star Comes Out said in a statement released with a memorandum sent to federal immigration authorities.
The Oglala Sioux Tribe's memorandum makes clear that ‘tribal citizens are not aliens’ and are ‘categorically outside immigration jurisdiction,’” Star Comes Out said. “Enrolled tribal members are citizens of the United States by statute and citizens of the Oglala Sioux Nation by treaty.”
Details about the circumstances that led to their detention were unclear.
In the memorandum sent to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Star Comes Out said the when tribal nation reached out to the agency it was provided with only the first names of the men. Homeland Security refused to release more information, unless the tribe “entered into an immigration agreement with ICE.”
DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday evening.
Star Comes Out said the tribe has no plans enter an agreement with ICE.
In a post to his Facebook page, Star Comes Out said that the four detained tribal members are experiencing homelessness and living under a bridge in Minneapolis. One of the members was released from detention.
In the press release, he demanded information on the status of the three men in detention, the release of all tribal citizens in ICE custody and a meeting between the tribe and the government.
Fort Snelling has a troubling history for Indigenous people. It was the first military outpost in the area, and Dakota people were held prisoner there during the Dakota War of 1862, an armed conflict between the U.S. and Native Americans, said Nick Estes, an associate professor in American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota and a member of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe.
“It has this really notorious anti-Indigenous, specifically anti-Dakota, history,” Estes said. “It’s kind of like a continuation on the monopoly of violence from the military outpost to the ICE facility.”