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ICE detains at least 5 Native Americans during Minnesota raids, community facing ‘extreme and terrifying violence’
At least five Native American men were reportedly detained by immigration officers across the Minneapolis area, and many others questioned.
At least five Native American men have been detained by immigration officers across the Minneapolis area, and many others questioned, ICT reported. This is happening amid the “largest immigration raid ever,” according to a top official, per the outlet.
Around 2,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrived in Minneapolis early this week, and are now allegedly questioning and detaining indigenous residents on the city’s southside. This comes after the shooting death of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was gunned down by federal agent Jonathan Ross after she allegedly struck him with her vehicle.
“I think some of them [ICE] don’t even know what they’re doing or where they’re at,” said Little Crow Belcourt, White Earth Ojibwe and the director of the Indigenous Peoples Movement, according to the outlet. “They’re just pulling people over at random, if you’re Brown. Some of our Native (American) people get mistaken for our relatives south of the border.”
What we know about ICE agents allegedly targeting Native Americans
ICE agents tried to enter Little Earth Housing Project property, the first Native American community housing project in the US, but property managers allegedly turned the agents away. ICE agents later tried to detain another Native American community member, Rachel Dionne-Thunder, co-founder of the Indigenous Protector Movement, who was sitting in her car down the street from the Powwow Grounds coffee shop. Coffee shop workers told the outlet that they ran outside to protect Dionne-Thunder.
Dionne-Thunder said in a Facebook post that ICE agents tried to arrest her, and shared a video recorded by another community member. “While observing ICE activity, agents approached my vehicle and demanded that I roll my window down. I did not consent. They escalated quickly and began threatening to break my window,” Dionne-Thunder wrote.
“What stopped that from happening was community,” Dionne-Thunder added. “People immediately surrounded my vehicle. My husband and others showed up fast, stayed calm, and held the line. Once there were witnesses and numbers, ICE backed off and left. This is how quickly things can turn. This is how unsafe it is right now. And this is why no one should be out here alone.”
Dionne-Thunder said in a previous post that her community in South Minneapolis “experienced extreme and terrifying violence during ICE activity.” “I witnessed community members abducted,” she wrote. “I witnessed observers rammed. I witnessed observers blocked into their cars. I witnessed tear gas and pepper spray used.”
Dionne-Thunder shared a photo of what she claimed was an ICE agent photographing her and her vehicle while “we were present as community observers.” She added, “We patrolled actively for over six hours today—documenting abductions, monitoring conditions, and trying to keep people safe. We recorded what we could. We showed up where we were needed. At one point, we gave a ride to a young immigrant mother and her baby who were walking alone. No one should have to navigate this kind of terror with a child in their arms.”
Later, under a bridge near Little Earth, ICE agents detained four Native American men, all citizens of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, according to tribal President Frank Star Comes Out. At least one of them was freed after a 12-hour hold, but the community does not know about his whereabouts, a community advocate from Homeward Bound, a southside homeless advocacy center, told ICT on Friday, January 9. The names of the four men are not available yet.
A Red Lake Nation descendant, Jose Roberto ‘Beto’ Ramirez, was also detained by ICE in a northern Minneapolis suburb while driving to visit his aunt. He was later released from the Whipple Building in Minneapolis.
The tribe is now working with Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith, Democratic-Farmer-Labor-Farmer-Labor, her office told ICT.
Nearly 24 hours after Ramirez reported being followed, Good was shot dead by an ICE agent. The same morning, residents at Little Earth claimed that ICE agents entered their building and dragged out people.
Community advocate Jearica Fountain, Karuk Tribe, said she has heard several reports of ICE encounters with Native Americans. “Native Americans are being detained, but then no one knows where to find them to bring in verification to show they’re Native American,” Fountain said.
Native American Caucus members condemn alleged targeting of Native Americans
Members of the Native American Caucus in the Minnesota Legislature – Senator Mary Kunesh (DFL-New Brighton), Representative Heather Keeler (DFL-Moorhead) and Representative Liish Kozlowski (DFL-Duluth) – released a statement condemning ICE’s actions. Read the full statement here:
“ICE has unleashed unspeakable acts of violence across Minnesota. Now, federal agents illegally detained four unsheltered Oglala Sioux relatives and Red Lake Nation descendant, Jose Roberto Ramirez, as countless community members report being harassed, stopped without cause, and interrogated for documentation. This is lawless abuse of power rooted in systemic racism — and it will not stand.
Native peoples are Indigenous to this country, existing on this continent for thousands of years before the colonization of this nation – rendering deportation impossible and absurd. Snatching a Native person off the street is not a reckless mistake – it’s a direct assault on Indigenous sovereignty and due process. Native Americans are citizens by law, history, and treaty.
The detention of Native peoples in Minnesota follows a disturbing nationwide pattern by ICE agents: targeting immigrants and civilians, seizing American Indian persons off the street, ignoring their clear identification as Tribal members, and detaining them by ruthless force. This treatment exposes the cruel irony of Indigenous peoples being treated as outsiders on our own homelands. These aren’t isolated or new injustices—they compound historical trauma at the hands of this federal government, exacerbate intergenerational harm on mental health and cultural identity, and reinforce longstanding mistrust of authority and government that have repeatedly broken its treaty promises.
Masked militias are waging violence on entire communities. These federal escalations — underscored by the murder of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent — reveal an ongoing pattern of militarized force that Native peoples, Black and Brown peoples, and immigrant communities have long endured. The indefensible actions of masked ICE militia rip apart individual lives and threaten the cultural, social, and spiritual fabric of our Urban Native and Tribal communities. ?We’re sounding the alarms that violence against us, against trans and Two Spirit relatives, and against immigrants threatens everyone’s rights.
We demand an immediate halt to ICE for good, an end to the discriminatory practices, and a comprehensive, transparent investigation of ICE and its accomplices across the system. Authorities at all levels must recognize and respect the sovereignty of Native Nations, DHS must fully consult Tribal Leaders, and ensure that their citizens and descendants are never subjected to violations of Indigenous rights and civil liberties. We must ensure no one is forced into the indignity of proving their right to exist on their own homelands or subjected to unlawful stops, detentions, or excessive force.
Nobody is illegal on stolen land. We echo calls from the community to Tribal and urban Native leaders to rise up and declare: ICE is not welcome and has no authority on any Tribal or urban Native lands, businesses, or other entities. We call on every Tribe to establish rapid response policies and protocols regarding ICE activity, and to ensure Know-Your-Rights resources are available to all community members and employees – Native and non-Native. Our existence, resources, and funding may be threatened—but our resolve to resist injustice is non-negotiable.
We are strongest when we act in solidarity, loudly and clearly, rooted in our identity as the first peoples of this land— the original caretakers who understand what it means to be good relatives. Together, we can and will protect the safety and well-being of our people and homelands.
Weweni and Wopila Tanka – Liish, Mary, and Heather”.
