Michigan tribes warn members about ICE stops: ‘Irony maybe is the word’
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, including one wearing a ‘NOT ICE’ face covering, walk near their vehicles, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Richfield, Minn. Photo credit: AP Photo/Adam Gray.
Editor’s note: This story was originally published by Bridge Michigan (bridgemi.com), a nonprofit and nonpartisan news organization. To get regular coverage from Bridge Michigan, sign up for a free Bridge Michigan newsletter here (https://bit.ly/BridgeMichiganNewsletter).”
The warnings came in response to reports that multiple Native Americans had been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during ongoing raids in Minneapolis.
“Irony maybe is the word,” said Ryan Mills, general counsel of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, “because not only are Native Americans citizens of the state they live in and the tribe they are part of, ultimately … they were here before the government of the United States was created.”
Mills said he knew of no instances of ICE detaining Native Americans in Michigan, but tribal members had reached out to the tribal government with concerns that ICE was targeting non-white people across the nation.
ICE did not immediately respond to requests for comment on this story, but a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told ProPublica in October that agents do not racially profile or target Americans and that “we don’t arrest US citizens for immigration enforcement.”
A US Supreme Court ruling in September cleared the way for ICE to use race and language as grounds for immigration stops.
ProPublica identified at least 170 US citizens detained — sometimes for days — by ICE agents during the first nine months of President Donald Trump’s second term.
“It just creates anxiety,” Mills said.
Many of the detained US citizens were accused of obstructing ICE activities.
Tribes such as the Sault Tribe, the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians and the Bay Mills Indian Community have in recent days publicly urged their citizens to carry ID and to know their rights if they are stopped by an ICE agent, including the right to remain silent and the right to request an attorney.
“Bay Mills Indian Community has tribal citizens across the United States who have experienced increased interaction and increased insecurity regarding their safety — even in the Eastern Upper Peninsula,” Bay Mills Indian Community President Whitney Gravelle said in a written statement to Bridge Michigan.
“This information was shared to inform our tribal citizens and all guests on our lands of their constitutional rights. Tribal sovereignty includes respect for all individuals, living or working, on tribal lands.”
This article first appeared on Bridge Michigan and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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