ICE Terrorizing Native People and the Nation: Navajo President Claims No Money for Tribal IDs
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| 'No ICE on Native Lands" Standing in solidarity with families separated, and with those who have lost their lives. Ponca, Oklahoma. The Navajo President plays politics -- while ICE grabs Navajos. Meanwhile, Native people are calling out their tribal governments for making money from misery from hotels and contracts, and sharing intelligence with ICE. The secretive ICE deportation flights are in this tangled web of heartbreak and misery. |
By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, Jan. 20, 2026
While ICE is terrorizing the nation, Navajo President Buu Nygren, playing politics, says there are no funds for tribal IDs. At the same time, ICE is out-of-control and making violent arrests in Minneapolis. Several Native American governments are profiteering from this misery and being exposed by tribal members. Meanwhile, the secretive deportation flights continue, and Guantanamo is one of the destinations.
Navajos are Being Grabbed by ICE -- Navajo President Claims No Funds for Tribal IDs
While ICE is illegally grabbing Navajos, the Navajo President, playing politics, says there are no funds to issue tribal IDs right now.
Navajo President Buu Nygren posted a warning about ICE now -- but he previously urged Navajos to go to work for ICE, after meeting with federal officials in Phoenix in September.
In this bizarre series of events, Arizona Family's news broadcast reveals that another Navajo was held in Denver by ICE for weeks, and the Navajo Nation had a difficult time obtaining their release.
Arizona's Family, CBS Phoenix, reports that ICE detained Peter Yazzie, Navajo, in the Phoenix Valley. The broadcast points out that Navajo President Nygren blames the Navajo Nation Council for the lack of funds to provide tribal IDs at this time.
Peter Yazzie, Navajo, was seized by ICE in the Phoenix Valley near his work site at 4 a.m., and his tribal and other IDs were ignored. Yazzie was zip-tied and illegally held by ICE for four hours.
President Nygren said in a statement, "Unfortunately, the Office of Vital Records cannot issue tribal IDs at the moment as the office remains underfunded due to the 638 contract having not been approved – that must change. I am urging the Navajo Nation Council to fully fund this office without delay. I will sign the legislation the same day it reaches my desk so we can immediately begin issuing tribal identification cards to better protect our citizens."
Lakota Issue Tribal IDs in Minneapolis
In contrast, Lakota leaders were in Minneapolis issuing tribal IDs last week, after an Anishinaabe man was arrested and abused by ICE, and four Lakotas were reported seized by ICE and missing in Minneapolis. Thousands of ICE and federal agents remain in Minneapolis and the arrests, brutality and deportation flights continue.
The Cheyenne River Lakota Nation banned ICE in South Dakota.
Hau Relatives,
By resolution at the January 16, 2026 Special Session Council approved to ban ICE from entering the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation.
We will defend our sovereignty and protect our community always. Lakota oyate have always been here. Stay warm, stay safe. Anpetu washte yuha po. Hechetu.
By resolution at the January 16, 2026 Special Session Council approved to ban ICE from entering the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation.
We will defend our sovereignty and protect our community always. Lakota oyate have always been here. Stay warm, stay safe. Anpetu washte yuha po. Hechetu.
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| Photo courtesy Oglala Lakota Nation President Frank Star Comes Out. More than 200 tribal IDs were issued during two days in Minneapolis. The Cheyenne River Lakota Nation in South Dakota was among the Native American tribes issuing tribal IDs in Minneapolis last week. Native Americans Raise Alarm Over Ice Operations  ICE agents are ignoring tribal IDs in Minneapolis, reports MS Now. Describing the racial profiling, George, Winnebego from Nebraska, said, "It doesn't even matter if we show them a tribal ID, state ID, or passport -- they are still taking us in as illegals." In response, the Native community has mobilized, creating a resource center to gather supplies, patrolling the streets as ICE observers, and delivering donations to those who do not feel safe leaving their homes, both Natives, Somali neighbors and other immigrants. The Native community has reactivated its patrols over concern with ICE encounters.  Little Crow Bellecourt, Chippewa, describes how the ICE agents are arriving in Minneapolis from throughout the United States and many are not familiar with Native people. "They just see a brown person and think we are all immigrants." |
In the secretive world of surveillance, the Navajo Nation shares its intelligence with ICE. The Navajo Nation shares intelligence with a multi-law enforcement Fusion Center, which includes ICE. It is the Arizona Counter Terrorism Information Center (ACTIC) which provides intelligence, investigative, and technical support.
These fusion centers have a history of targeting activists and peaceful protests, as was revealed in the surveillance of Peehee Mu'huh defenders of the Paiute Massacre Site at Thacker Pass in Nevada. That multi law enforcement Fusion Center operated in Reno, Nevada. Interior Sec. Deb Haaland's BIA and BLM were part of the surveillance at Thacker Pass in 2022, which included hidden cameras of the camp site and aerial photos.
Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Closes Hotels in St. Paul, Minnesota
MPR reports, "Two St. Paul hotels — The DoubleTree St. Paul Downtown and the Intercontinental St. Paul Riverfront — temporarily shuttered on Sunday."
We have made the decision to temporarily suspend operations at two of our St. Paul hotels - Intercontinental St. Paul Riverfront and DoubleTree St. Paul Downtown - in response to elevated safety and security concerns. This temporary suspension is for all guests with reservations and began at noon Sunday, January 18, 2026, today.
We apologize for this inconvenience and are contacting guests to offer re-accommodation to other properties at no charge while these hotels are temporarily closed. The safety and security of all of our guests and employees is always our top priority.
Respectfully,
Mille Lacs Corporate Ventures Board of Directors
Tlingit and Haida are concerned over tribe's money making in Guantanamo where migrants are being taken.
"While tribal corporation leadership says their operations are separate from the detention center on the military base, what’s happening on the ground may tell a different story."
"At least 700 migrants were detained at Guantánamo Bay in the past year."
"In other parts of the state, Alaska Native tribal members have protested their corporations’ investments in immigration detention centers. NANA Regional Corporation’s subsidiary, Akima, has been directly investing in ICE detention operations, including in Guantánamo Bay, for years."
"Native American corporations also staff or support ICE detention facilities near Miami, in upstate New York, in El Paso, Texas, and in San Pedro, California, according the website Turtle Talk. An LLC owned by the Poarch Band of Creek Indians in Alabama also has a multimillion-dollar contract with ICE to provide support to a detention facility in Alabama," the Guardian reports.
Another migrant deportation flight left the Mesa airport, in the Phoenix Valley, at 4 a.m. on Monday for Venezuela. The airline is Eastern Airlines. ICE Flight Monitor said, An ICE Air flight (EAL8280) en route to Caracas, Venezuela from Phoenix, Arizona.
In Minneapolis, many migrants violently arrested by ICE are being sent to hubs, such as Alexandria in central Louisiana and Omaha, Nebraska, before being sent to Texas and then to other countries. Two deportation flights were tracked to Guantanamo in January.
The secretive deportation flights. Today, January 20, 2026: Omni airlines, a charter airline based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is deporting migrants. From Minnesota and elsewhere migrants are sent to deportation hubs, as shown here, one is Harlingen, Texas. Others are Alexandria in central Louisiana, and Miami.
UNDER SURVEILLANCE -- OKLAHOMA
ICE detained and harassed Absentee Shawnee, was in Ponca City near the Ponca Nation, and also carried out 'Operation Guardian' at the Oklahoma/Kansas state line targeting commercial truck drivers.
PONCA, Oklahoma -- 'No ICE on Native Lands." We stand in solidarity with all those affected by ICE, with families being separated, and with those who have lost their lives.
Casey Camp Horinek said, “On a cold January morning, we joined dozens of fellow citizens in Ponca City to raise awareness in our rural, conservative Oklahoma community."
Casey Camp-Horinek is Environmental Ambassador for the Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma and Board Chair of Movement Rights.
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"The business arm of Southeast Alaska’s largest tribe has earned nearly $40 million from U.S. Navy contracts in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba – money some tribal members are concerned comes from supporting immigrant detention," KTOO reports.
"While tribal corporation leadership says their operations are separate from the detention center on the military base, what’s happening on the ground may tell a different story."
"At least 700 migrants were detained at Guantánamo Bay in the past year."
"In other parts of the state, Alaska Native tribal members have protested their corporations’ investments in immigration detention centers. NANA Regional Corporation’s subsidiary, Akima, has been directly investing in ICE detention operations, including in Guantánamo Bay, for years."
The Secretive World of Deportation Flights
With migrants in shackles and often abused, the deportation flights include removals to every region of the world, including parts of Europe (Poland, Uzbekistan via layovers), the Middle East (Iran and Russia via third-country transfers like Egypt or Kuwait.)
The main contract holder, CSI in Albuquerque, is contracting out the deportation flights.
In Minneapolis, many migrants violently arrested by ICE are being sent to hubs, such as Alexandria in central Louisiana and Omaha, Nebraska, before being sent to Texas and then to other countries. Two deportation flights were tracked to Guantanamo in January.
The secretive deportation flights. Today, January 20, 2026: Omni airlines, a charter airline based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is deporting migrants. From Minnesota and elsewhere migrants are sent to deportation hubs, as shown here, one is Harlingen, Texas. Others are Alexandria in central Louisiana, and Miami.
ICE detained and harassed Absentee Shawnee, was in Ponca City near the Ponca Nation, and also carried out 'Operation Guardian' at the Oklahoma/Kansas state line targeting commercial truck drivers.
It is a reminder that the Interior Department's BIA was forced to admit in a federal court case what its mobile unit from eastern Oklahoma, BIA District II, was doing at Standing Rock during the resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Parked in front of the Prairie Knights Casino, it served as law enforcement and surveillance headquarters. Inside, undercover BIA narcotics officers wandered around the casino restaurant, trying to strike up conversations, to extract intelligence from inside the camps, according to the testimony in North Dakota v. U.S.
Today, tribal governments are part of the secretive, multi-law enforcement Oklahoma Information Fusion Center and share intelligence and information.
The Fusion Centers are known to target peaceful protesters.
The Fusion Center in Reno, Nevada, was exposed for stalking the defenders of Peehee Mu'huh, Thacker Pass, which included aerial photos of gatherings and hidden cameras at a camp site, in FOIA documents in 2025. Interior Sec. Deb Haaland's BIA and BLM were part of the secret surveillance by the Fusion Center in Reno in 2022.
The Tohono O'odham Nation was the first tribal government to become part of a Fusion Center, sharing intelligence with other law enforcement. Leaked files show southern Arizona law enforcement had Klee Benally, Dineh, under surveillance before Klee passed to the Spirit World.
Meanwhile, the Shadow Wolves, an ICE unit of Tohono O'odham, is being promoted and romanticized by pro-law enforcement media.
PONCA: 'No ICE on Native Land'
PONCA, Oklahoma -- 'No ICE on Native Lands." We stand in solidarity with all those affected by ICE, with families being separated, and with those who have lost their lives.
Casey Camp Horinek said, “On a cold January morning, we joined dozens of fellow citizens in Ponca City to raise awareness in our rural, conservative Oklahoma community."
"As Indigenous Peoples, we have endured over 500 years of federal brutality and witness the racist, elitist tactics of white supremacy reflected in ICE’s actions. Civil society solidarity is our strength. When we unite, we can change the trajectory of our future. We say NO ICE ON NATIVE LANDS—because all land is Native land! NO KINGS, NO ICE QUEENS.”
Casey Camp-Horinek is Environmental Ambassador for the Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma and Board Chair of Movement Rights.
Standing Rock: Grassroots Prayers and Community Protection Training
Fort Yates, North Dakota
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