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Indigenous Actor Says ICE Detained Her in Washington, Called Tribal ID 'Fake'

The case has intensified scrutiny of how officers verify tribal identification.

Overview

  • Elaine Miles reports four masked men in ICE-labeled vests stopped her near Redmond’s Bear Creek Village, rejected her Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla ID, and left after a fifth agent signaled from an SUV.
  • She says the agents refused to call the tribal enrollment office listed on the card and briefly tried to take her phone when she attempted to verify it herself.
  • Tribal enrollment cards are recognized by federal agencies, and Miles says she has used hers to travel to Canada and Mexico without issues.
  • Miles also describes earlier short detentions of her son and uncle in which ICE agents initially questioned their tribal IDs; an Indigenous rights attorney called the encounters racial profiling.
  • ICE has not commented, and Redmond’s city council voted to turn off Flock Safety license-plate cameras following local arrests that day, with no evidence the cameras were used in those operations.