On Tuesday, the president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe in South Dakota, Frank Star Comes Out, made headlines by claiming that four members of his tribe were unlawfully detained by ICE and calling for their immediate release. He also claimed that the federal government tried to force him to “enter into an immigration agreement with ICE.”
To coin a phrase, "That's not entirely accurate."
Mr. Star Comes Out apparently felt that Native Americans were being left out of all the victimization of oppressed minorities in Minnesota and decided to shoulder his way onto the stage.
Democrats and the media leapt at the story that Native Americans, "Americans" before anyone else got here, were being rounded up by evil ICE and thrown into a detention camp.
The only problem with this juicy news item was that it wasn't true.
ICE never even encountered any Ogala Sioux and never asked for an immigration agreement. The tribe only gave ICE the first names of the supposed detainees. It's not unreasonable to speculate that the entire "incident" was a publicity stunt, a set-up from the start.
“ICE did NOT ask the tribe for any kind of agreement; we have simply asked for basic information on the individuals, such as names and date of birth, so that we can run a proper check to provide them with the facts,” Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said it can’t verify claims that any of their officers arrested or “even encountered” members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe or found anyone in their detention centers claiming to be a tribal member. They denied asking the tribe for any kind of agreement.
Tribal President Frank Star Comes Out has not responded to repeated requests for comment, including after his updated memo was released on Thursday.
The accusations of arrests came at a time when many Native Americans are already concerned over the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement agenda and racial profiling by federal agents ensnaring them as well, and as some tribes have grappled with whether to engage in agreements with DHS tied to the crackdown.
Like the fake hate crime epidemic, this was a story "too good to check." Media outlets like AP accepted Star Comes Out's word as gospel because he's an oppressed minority, and the story fits nicely into their "ICE is Nazis" narrative.
AP wasn't giving up, however. In the story reporting that Star Comes Out lied about the whole thing, the wire service added completely unrelated examples of ICE detaining other Native Americans.
Last year, Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said that several tribal citizens reported being stopped and detained by ICE officers in Arizona and New Mexico. He and other tribal leaders have advised their members to carry tribal IDs with them at all times.
Last November, Elaine Miles, a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon and an actress known for her roles in “Northern Exposure” and “The Last of Us,” said she was stopped by ICE officers in Washington state who told her that her tribal ID looked fake.
AP also wrote about former South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, now Homeland Security secretary, and her problems with the Sioux nations. During her time as governor, Noem claimed that "a gang calling itself the Ghost Dancers was affiliated with drug cartels and was committing murder on the Pine Ridge Reservation."
Star Comes Out took great offense, not at the idea that drug cartels were operating on tribal lands, but at Noem's mention of the name of the gang.
"Ghost Dance" is one of the Oglala Sioux’s “most sacred ceremonies,” and the name was used by Noem "with blatant disrespect and is insulting to our Oyate,” he claimed, using the Lakota word for “people” or “nation.”
Yes, Mr. Star Comes Out, but what about the drug cartels?
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AP gave cursory attention to the blatant lies of the Native American chief that smeared ICE while throwing shade using unrelated and irrelevant information.
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