A sign at a Wabanaki Alliance rally on Indigenous Peoples’ Day at the Maine State House in Augusta. (Jim Neuger/ Maine Morning Star)
The Penobscot Nation is encouraging its citizens to carry their tribal identification as a precaution in light of reports of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement questioning the citizenship of Indigenous people in other states.
These reports come after the Trump administration also openly questioned the U.S. citizenship of Indigenous people as part of its defense of President Donald Trump’s executive order to suspend birthright citizenship in the U.S.
This line of questioning raises alarm for Maulian Bryant, executive director of the Wabanaki Alliance, because of possible implications for the rights of individual Native Americans as well as for the long standing relationship between tribes and the federal government.
Disrupting that relationship would present unique challenges for the Wabanaki Nations — the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, Mi’kmaq Nation, Passamaquoddy Tribe and Penobscot Nation — which already have a different status than the other 570 federally-recognized tribes in the U.S.
Wabanaki leaders and Maine lawmakers have been pushing on the state and federal level to rectify this disparity, which stems from the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act of 1980. They are continuing to do so this legislative session.
But that push for parity with other tribal nations has been based on the assumption that the baseline federal relationship is intact and remains so, regardless of who is in the Oval Office.
“It’s a moving goalpost if what we’re working towards, equity as federally recognized tribes, is in flux for all tribes,” Bryant said. “That makes our work all the more harder and all the more important.”
Encounters with ICE
Danna Hayes, director of public affairs for the Office of the Maine Attorney General, said the office is not aware of any incidents of Indigenous people being questioned by ICE in Maine.
The board of the Wabanaki Alliance, a nonprofit organized to advocate for the recognition of the Wabanaki Nations’ inherent sovereignty, met on Friday to discuss the actions handed down from the Trump administration so far and are in the process of settling on collective guidance for Wabanaki citizens.
The Penobscot Nation is the only tribe so far that has issued direction for citizens to carry their tribal identification.
“We encourage all Tribal citizens to carry your Tribal ID, as we understand that your Tribal ID is sufficient proof of citizenship,” Chief of the Penobscot Nation Kirk Francis shared in a message to citizens and employees on Wednesday. “Contact the Tribal office if you need a new Tribal ID or encounter any problems.”
Such encounters could be further complicated for Wabanaki people who have dual citizenship with Canada and the United States.
“We’re talking a lot about the southern border,” Bryant said, “but I would want anyone that has that dual citizenship to be able to cross the border freely and understand the rights in both countries.”
Navajo leaders told Maine Morning Star’s sister site the Arizona Mirror that they’ve received calls and text messages from Navajo people living in urban areas who have been stopped, questioned or detained by ICE.
In New Mexico, the Mescalero Apache Tribe reported that ICE agents asked a tribal member for identification, first in Spanish, but stopped questioning after the person presented their state license and tribal identification card.
In light of these incidents, tribes across the country have started urging their members to carry identification, some offering waived fees for replacing identification and help securing legal counsel should its members be improperly questioned or detained.
Legal implications in flux
On the first day of his presidency, Donald Trump signed an executive order that states U.S. citizenship does not extend to children born to a mother who is “unauthorized” or in the U.S. on a temporary visa and whose father is not a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident.
Several states and organizations sued the administration over the order, including Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey and the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine. In response to one lawsuit brought by Washington, Oregon, Arizona and Illinois, a federal judge temporarily blocked the order and called it “blatantly unconstitutional.”
In 1868, the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution codified birthright citizenship, declaring that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
In court, the DOJ cited an 1884 U.S. Supreme Court case in defending the executive order as constitutional. That ruling, in Elk v. Wilkins, found that “because members of Indian tribes owe ‘immediate allegiance’ to their tribes, they are not ‘subject to the jurisdiction’ of the United States and are not constitutionally entitled to citizenship.”
The DOJ went on to argue, “The United States’ connection with the children of illegal aliens and temporary visitors is weaker than its connection with members of Indian tribes. If the latter link is insufficient for birthright citizenship, the former certainly is.”
However, the DOJ ignored the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, which explicitly gave Indigenous people birthright citizenship in the U.S., and court precedent upholding that right since.
“Speaking for myself and a lot of other tribal members that I’ve talked to, we were surprised that one of the initial topics brought up was Indigenous citizenship because it doesn’t even seem all that connected to any of the executive orders or policy agendas,” Bryant said.
“All of that you would think would be rectified with the 1924 act granting us citizenship,” Bryant added. “But the fact that it’s even being brought up is troublesome.”
Also in light of the Trump administration issuing sweeping executive actions to end diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, Bryant cautioned that tribes should be on alert regarding what this could mean for Indigenous rights.
“We’re going to really have to make it clear that the fiduciary responsibility from the United States government to tribal nations is not a welfare program,” Bryant said. “It’s not entitlement spending. It’s based on the fact that this is all of our homeland and it was stolen.”
One example of Trump’s DEI attacks targeting tribal nations is the renaming of North America’s tallest peak from Denali back to Mount McKinley, which Bryant said has been met with dismay from many Wabanaki citizens.
“I hope there’s some common sense and decency and we don’t destroy some of those really great Indigenous influences on our society,” Bryant said.
With a new administration also comes new cabinet leadership.
Other tribal leaders have said they see an ally in North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who Trump selected to serve as Interior Secretary and chairman of the newly formed National Energy Council, which includes the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Burgum replaces former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Native American cabinet secretary in U.S. history.
While Bryant has not yet met Burgum, she said she hopes to work with him on the issue of land into trust applications, in particular.
“Part of our wanting to amend the Settlement Act is to have a land and a trust process that looks more like other types throughout the country,” Bryant said.
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