WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representative Teresa Leger Fernández sent a letter to President Trump demanding immediate action to address reports of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents harassing, detaining, and questioning Native American Tribal members about their citizenship. The lawmakers condemned these actions as unconstitutional and a violation of Tribal sovereignty, calling for swift action to end racial profiling and protect Native communities.
In their letter, the lawmakers highlighted a confirmed incident in New Mexico where an ICE agent harassed a Tribal citizen at a convenience store, questioning their citizenship.
“Native American Tribal members are United States citizens. Stopping people because of what they look like - with dark skin, Asian, Latino or Native American characteristics is never acceptable,” the lawmakers wrote. “ICE’s dangerous behavior of harassing American citizens, seemingly only due to the way they look, is unconstitutional and un-American.”
The lawmakers also raised alarm about additional reports of ICE agents targeting Native Americans in multiple states, saying, “Your Administration’s actions and policies are quickly spreading fear in communities that have existed since time immemorial. It is unconscionable to question their citizenship and cause them to live in fear.”
The lawmakers emphasized the historical and legal context, reminding the Administration that the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 granted citizenship to all Native Americans. “Native communities are quintessentially American communities.”
The lawmakers called on the Trump Administration to take immediate action to:
Direct ICE agents to stop harassing Native Americans and violating Tribal sovereignty.
Prevent racial profiling by ICE agents.
Require ICE to accept Tribal identification as proof of U.S. citizenship.
Explain the criteria used by ICE agents to stop and question Native Americans.
The lawmakers also condemned President Trump’s recent statement suggesting that immigration enforcement should target people based on their appearance. “Your recent statement that you can tell an immigrant who is ‘trouble’ by the way they ‘look’ suggests that sending ICE agents after our communities is about the color of a person’s skin, not their immigration status,” the lawmakers stated in their letter.
“It is unconscionable to question [Native Communities’] citizenship and cause them to live in fear,” the lawmakers wrote. “You must put a stop to ICE agents targeting Native Americans.”
The letter was led by U.S. Representative Teresa Leger Fernández. Alongside Heinrich the letter was signed by U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), and U.S. Representatives Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.), Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), and Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.).
The text of the letter is here.
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