Frank Star Comes Out, president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, has retracted claims he made earlier this week regarding immigration enforcement and the federal government. Star Comes Out initially claimed that immigration enforcement arrested four tribal members and that the federal government attempted to extract an “immigration agreement” from the tribe in exchange for information about their members’ whereabouts.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) refuted these claims, stating they could not verify that their officers arrested or encountered members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe or found anyone in their detention centers claiming to be a tribal member. DHS also stated they never asked the tribe for any kind of agreement.
In a memo released Thursday, Star Comes Out stated his earlier statement had been “misinterpreted” and that there was no such demand from federal officials. He clarified that the tribe had been in “cooperative communications” with federal officials and that “one option for the Tribe to have easier access to information is to enter into an immigration agreement” with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and DHS. He did not specify what type of agreement.
Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin stated that “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.”
The initial accusations of arrests occurred amid existing concerns among Native Americans regarding the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement agenda and racial profiling by federal agents. Some tribes have also grappled with whether to engage in agreements with DHS linked to the crackdown.
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.
In November, Elaine Miles, a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon, said she was stopped by ICE officers in Washington state who told her that her tribal ID looked fake.
The Oglala Sioux Tribe and DHS have a history of tension. In 2024, Star Comes Out banned Kristi Noem, then governor of South Dakota, from the Pine Ridge Reservation after she claimed that cartels were infiltrating reservations in the state.
The controversy with the Oglala Sioux Tribe comes as some Native American tribes with contracts with Homeland Security are rethinking those agreements. For example, a tribal business entity associated with the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation ended a nearly $30 million federal contract to design immigrant detention centers.