Oglala Sioux Tribe demands the release of Lakota men detained by ICE
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Frank Star Comes Out, the president of Oglala Sioux Tribe in South Dakota, is demanding the Department of Homeland Security provide information and the release of three tribally enrolled citizens held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to a statement released by the Valerie Adams, a spokesperson for the tribe.
In a previous statement made last Thursday, Star Comes Out announced that four unhoused men had been detained by ICE near the intersection of 24th Street and Cedar Avenue in south Minneapolis, where they had been living beneath a bridge near a Little Earth, a subsidized housing complex. That initial statement said that a bystander who was also a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe confirmed their tribal membership but did not get their names.
The statement released Tuesday by Adams goes on to say the tribe has since learned the first names of all four men, and that one man has been released.
According to the new statement, tribal attorneys attempting to locate the three men believe they are detained at the ICE detention center at Fort Snelling.
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“The irony is not lost on us,” said Star Comes Out. “Lakota citizens who are reported to be held at Fort Snelling — a site forever tied to the Dakota 38+2 — underscores why federal treaty obligations and federal accountability matter today, not just in history.”
The Whipple Federal Building used by ICE as a detention center is the site of the military fort once used to imprison hundreds of Dakota during and after the U.S.-Dakota War in 1862.
On Tuesday, Star Comes Out demanded the “immediate federal action and government to government consultation” regarding the detention of its members. The statement goes on to say the tribe believes the detention of its members by ICE is “unlawful.”
“[It] constitutes a direct violation of binding treaties, federal law, constitutional protections, and the United States’ trust responsibility,” according to the statement.
The tribe’s spokesperson also released a seven-and-a-half-page memorandum to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and other federal officials, outlining the tribe’s legal position with respect to U.S. treaty and trust obligations meant, in part, to protect Oglala tribal members.
MPR News has reached out to ICE officials requesting comment regarding the three men said to remain in detention and has not received a response.
The statement went on to say that Star Comes Out would be traveling to Minneapolis to meet with tribal leaders on Friday. A news conference is scheduled for later that afternoon.
The Oglala Sioux Tribal enrollment office is scheduled to be on site at the Minneapolis American Indian Center on Friday to assist tribal members living in the area with “tribal enrollment verification and documentation.”
