GREAT FALLS — President Donald Trump is putting pressure on U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement to ramp up the number of migrants the federal agency arrests. President Trump has pledged to carry out the largest deportation program in U.S. history and said it will prioritize detaining violent criminals first.
In Montana, several tribal leaders have offered guidance to members in response to the Trump's order.
Crow Tribe senator Dean Don't Mix from Lodge Grass issued a statement on Monday advising all tribal members to carry tribal and/or state-issued identification at all times.
"View everything you read on social media with a critical eye, determine whether the source of the stories being posted is legitimate, and do your best to spread factual information and positive messages, rather than misinformation and rumors," he said in the statement.
Justin Gray Hawk, Sr., the chairman of Fort Peck Tribes, echoed the advice about ID cards: "I urge all Fort Peck Tribal Members to carry a current Fort Peck Tribal ID."
Gray Hawk noted:
Fort Peck Tribal Members have reached out to me to express their concern of a threat to "deport Native Americans along with Mexicans in the hope that nobody can tell the difference."
In a letter to the Fort Peck Journal, Gray Hawk noted: "The Fort Peck Tribes and my Administration are closely monitoring this situation. The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 is an act of Congress and a fundamental right protected by the United States Constitution and cannot be overturned by an executive order."
Don't Mix also said: "None of our Crow tribal members should live in fear of being arrested or deported by federal immigration agents. Social media may be abuzz with scary stories right now, but our longstanding rights to our homeland, and our citizenship, have been consistently recognized and upheld by the United States since it entered into its first Treaty with our tribe, in 1825."
Along with carrying identification, Don't Mix recommends tribal members also "not escalate the situation" if they are stopped and questioned about their citizenship.
Several days ago, the president of Fort Belknap Indian Community, Jeffrey Stiffarm, also referenced the situation.
Stiffarm said in a news release that there were reports being circulated that the Trump Administration was targeting tribes in Montana deportation.
He said he was told directly by U.S. Senator Steve Daines (MT) that there is NO such plan in place, and that the rumors are unfounded and there is no need to panic.
John Allen, Assiniboine Representative for Fort Belknap, said on Tuesday, “If you’re native American you should get your Tribal ID so that you can be identified, you know? Helping them so that they can identify themselves as Native Americans. Because definitely they look like Spanish people, and when they make the sweep and pick up everybody, you got to prove that you’re a US citizen, and I don’t think our drivers licenses even work anymore."
Allen added, "We’ve survived under a lot of flags here in the North American continent, a lot of governments. So we’re taking it with a grain of salt and taking precautions, and hopefully we have a plan in place if things do go south on us. All of us have our own Tribal IDs, but only half of our population is on the reservation. There's a good 400 of them scattered to the four winds out there.”
