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*** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ***
Statement Regarding Ongoing Violence and Rights Violations in Minnesota
January 16, 2026
Founded in 1978, the Indian Law Resource Center provides assistance to Indian Nations and Indigenous peoples in the United States and throughout the Americas to combat racism and oppression; to protect their lands and environment; to protect their cultures and ways of life; to achieve sustainable economic development and genuine self-government; and to realize their other human rights.
This next week, our Safe Women, Strong Nations program will travel to Minneapolis, Minnesota, to attend the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Violence Against Women’s Tribal Consultation. This is a congressionally mandated Nation-to-Nation consultation that addresses violence experienced by American Indians and Alaskan Natives. The timing of this meeting is particularly significant as Native people in the Twin Cities are being subjected to wrongful detentions and arrests by U.S. Immigrant and Customs Enforcement agents.
To stop an individual for brief questioning (detainment) about immigration status, the government must have reasonable suspicion that the individual is “illegally” present in the United States. What factors could establish reasonable suspicion? According to the Supreme Court in 2025’s Noem v. Vasquez Perdomo, those factors include the following: 1) the individuals APPARENT race or ethnicity; 2) whether they spoke Spanish or English with an accent; 3) the type of location at which they were found (such as a car wash or a bus stop); and 4) the type of job they appeared to work.
These wrongful detentions and arrests of Native peoples are a direct result of the Supreme Court’s decision inPerdomo, and they have led to widespread confusion, terror, and real harm. In Perdomo, the Supreme Court allowed immigration stops based solely on race, in effect holding that simply being perceived as being brown establishes reasonable suspicion of criminality.
Minneapolis, Minnesota is home to a robust Indigenous population in part due to the Indian Relocation Act of 1956. The law was a key component of a federal assimilation policy that displaced Native people and led to mass poverty, racism, and forced separation from culture and Tribes.
Due largely to this historical context, many Native people in the Twin Cities area are unhoused, impoverished, or previously incarcerated for non-violent crimes. These vulnerabilities, coupled with perceived race or ethnicity, increase the risk of detention under the factors outlined in Perdomo.
The Indian Law Resource Center encourages Tribal government officials and NGO staff attending Tribal Consultation to take the following precautions:
- Travel with your passport, a copy of your passport, your Tribal ID, and REAL ID;
- Consider sharing copies of your identification with your emergency contact;
- Ensure that your employer has updated emergency contact information and that your emergency contact has your most up-to-date travel plans;
- Travel in groups;
- Ensure that your Tribal leadership, tribal NGO partners, or other individuals traveling with you can check in at certain times to maintain communication about safety; if you feel comfortable, provide them with updated health information (medication that you are required to take for serious health concerns, etc.);
- If you are driving your personal vehicle, keep up to date registration and insurance (as well as vehicle maintenance to avoid stops by law enforcement);
- Monitor the current situation in Minneapolis and the surrounding areas and
- Keep the contact number of a licensed attorney on you at all times.
Our mission has always been the preservation of the human rights and dignity of Indigenous peoples everywhere. The Indian Law Resource Center is appalled that we must issue such guidance to American Indians and Alaska Natives travelling to Minneapolis, Minnesota to attend a meeting with the U.S. government.
Sadly, Perdomo makes clear that our nation’s Constitutional commitments to equal protection of the laws and due process are not yet secured. We stand in solidarity with our relatives who have been directly impacted by lawless actions, and we uphold Article 2 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples —
“Indigenous peoples and individuals are free and equal to all other peoples and individuals and have the right to be free from any kind of discrimination, in the exercise of their rights, in particular that based on their indigenous origin or identity.”
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
These following have not been created by the Indian Law Resource Center, but come from partners and allies across Indian Country: