Monday, January 12, 2026

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Native community members in Minneapolis, Minn. held a press conference Friday to discuss immediate needs, resources, and plans for community care following the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) last week in the city.

Members of Native organizations and grassroots groups have set up two hubs in Minneapolis for people to gather and organize.

Members of the Native community are also conducting street patrols.

Robert Lilligren is the President and CEO of the Native American Community Development Institute and a member of the Metropolitan Urban Indian Directors.

He says the Native community does not feel safe with the federal presence, adding they’re receiving reports of ICE interactions with Native people and detainment.

“I know we are skilled at protecting our people, protecting our assets, protecting our non-Native people and their assets. And we’ve had to do this over and over again, historically.”

Nikki Love is the Executive Director of the Tiwahe Foundation and a member of the Metropolitan Urban Indian Directors.

“We’re all here to keep each other safe. And it’s very important that we think about not just as Native Nations, but that’s very important, right, but also as Native individuals to exercise our sovereign rights.”

Leaders say they’re working with Native organizations, grassroots groups, and tribal leaders to address the ICE presence in their community.

Press conference audio courtesy Darren Thompson

Tribal leaders across the country are raising concerns about ICE activities and the safety of their tribal citizens, including leaders in South Dakota after the detainment of some of their tribal members in Minneapolis.

South Dakota Public Broadcasting’s C.J. Keene has more.

A statement from the office of President Frank Star Comes out of the Oglala Sioux Tribe says he is aware of reports of the detainment of four Oglala tribal members by ICE in Minneapolis.

In the report, an Oglala bystander was able to get their tribal identities, but unable to get their names.

In his statement, President Star Comes Out wrote, “All Native people born within the territorial limits of the United States are recognized as US citizens by birth. Because I am both a tribal citizen and a US citizen, ICE has no lawful authority to detain me.”

Star Comes Out also wrote that treaties confirm the inherent sovereignty of Native tribes and a nation-to-nation relationship with the U.S. government.

He advises tribal members, if detained, not speak to ICE agents without an attorney present.

In another statement, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chairman Steve Sitting Bear wrote, “Our nation is a sovereign government, and our members are not immigrants. We are not subject to immigration enforcement on our own lands.”

He goes on to say that ICE activity is not welcome or authorized on the lands of the Standing Rock reservation, and that unauthorized personnel will be escorted from the reservation.
He advises tribal members always carry their tribal identification cards, which confirms both the citizenship and political status of the carrier.

South Dakota is not immune from the recent wave of immigration crackdowns, as immigration arrests and operations have been reported in communities across the state in rent months.

A former White Mountain Apache police officer was arrested last Thursday stemming from a 15-count grand jury indictment alleging serial sexual abuse and kidnapping.

As KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, federal law enforcement authorities are now asking for any additional victims to come forward.

Karl Eugene Leslie is accused of sexually abusing and kidnapping victims while on-duty between 2020 and 2023.

All are White Mountain Apache and one is a minor.

FBI Phoenix Special Agent in Charge Heith Janke thinks there’s others.

“We have to be careful, so I won’t be able to talk a lot of specifics outside of what’s in the actual indictment. What I can say is we believe there are more victims out there.”

Leslie’s nearly two-decade career ended in 2024.

“There’s no preclusion of a victim coming forward – no matter how far it may have gone back. We just need to know who they are and the facts behind that.”

Leslie has been assigned an attorney out of Flagstaff, Ariz., who declined to comment.

If convicted on all counts, he faces up to a life sentence and $250,000 fine.

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