Tribes issue warnings for citizens on immigration enforcement

Alexia Aston

The Oklahoman USA TODAY NETWORK

Several tribal leaders in Oklahoma are cautioning tribal citizens and issuing guidance on how to interact with federal agents after state troopers and immigration officers conducted an operation south of the Kansas border Wednesday, Jan. 14.

The high-profile stops on Interstate 35 marked the latest phase of Operation Guardian — an initiative launched by Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt in 2024 aimed at aggressively increasing immigration enforcement through partnerships between state and federal agencies.

The recent round of stops triggered a new wave of fear on social media, particularly because several tribal nations are based close to where the stops occurred.

Though such instances haven’t

been reported in Oklahoma, a handful of Native Americans were detained by federal agents in Minnesota amid the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement surge. The detention of at least five tribal members in and around Minneapolis has sparked an outcry among Native American groups about Indigenous people being racially profiled as undocumented immigrants by federal immigration agents. Minneapolis is one of the largest urban centers for Native Americans in the United States.

Oklahoma has one of the nation’s largest Native American populations, with 39 federally recognized tribes.

On Thursday, Jan.15, the United Indian Nations of Oklahoma issued an advisory to the state’s tribal citizens to carry tribal, state and federally issued identification they may have.

“It is deeply concerning that tribal citizens have been questioned or detained despite their lawful status,” said Ben Barnes, the organization’s chairman and chief of the Shawnee Tribe in the northeast corner of the state. “Given these developments, there is no reason to assume Native people in Oklahoma could not or are not already facing similar encounters.”

Several tribes also issued statements to their citizens, including the Absentee Shawnee Tribe, Cherokee Nation, Chickasaw Nation, Seminole Nation and Ponca Tribe, urging them to also carry identification and giving guidance on how to interact with federal immigration officers.

“To be clear, there is no reasonable basis, reasonable suspicion, or probable cause to restrict the liberties of Native Americans based on any of the following characteristics: skin color, hair color, eye color, lack of identification, etc,” said Absentee Shawnee tribe Gov. John Johnson. “To be blunt, just because a Native American may resemble, superficially, a migrant from Central or South America, that does not mean that federal officers have the right to approach.”

ICE has faced intense backlash and scrutiny of its policies and the tactics of its officers spreading fear in immigrant communities locally and nationwide. Critics have accused ICE of racial profiling, illegal searches and detention of immigrants (as well as actual U.S. citizens) with no criminal records.

Stitt has backed the efforts of ICE through efforts like Operation Guardian, which has resulted in hundreds of arrests after traffic stops on state highways. Oklahoma Highway Patrol has not yet disclosed any information about how many stops or arrests it made on Wednesday, Jan. 14.

Otoe-Missouria Tribal Chairman John Shotton also issued a statement Thursday, Jan. 15, saying a large number of state troopers stayed at the tribe’s hotel north of Newark Tuesday night before the Operation Guardian job. Neither the tribe nor its police department were made aware of the operation prior to its commencement, according to the statement.

Days before the immigration operation in northern Oklahoma, the Choctaw Nation tribal council approved a bill opposing a rumored Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention Center in Durant, as reported by public radio station KOSU.

The unanimous vote was a precautionary measure amid rumors about a former Big Lots distribution center becoming an ICE facility.

The Inter-Tribal Council of the Five Tribes also passed a resolution during its quarterly session recently that calls on the United States Department of Homeland Security to consult with tribal nations regarding ICE facilities sitting and operating on or near tribal lands.

ICE has detention facilities in Cushing just between Oklahoma City and Tulsa as well as a locations in Newkirk near the Oklahoma-Kansas border and northwest of the Oklahoma City metro in Watonga. The agency is also reportedly considering a site in the Oklahoma City metro.

“It is deeply concerning that tribal citizens have been questioned or detained despite their lawful status. Given these developments, there is no reason to assume Native people in Oklahoma could not or are not already facing similar encounters.”

Ben Barnes, chairman of United Indian Nations of Oklahoma