Oglala and Cheyenne River Lakota Nations Ban ICE -- ICE Terrorizing Native Americans

Oglala and Cheyenne River Lakota Nations Ban ICE in South Dakota -- ICE is Terrorizing Native Americans

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, Jan. 24, 2026
Top photo courtesy Indigenous Protector Movement in Minneapolis

The Oglala Sioux Tribe unanimously banned ICE from Pine Ridge in South Dakota, and rejected a federal immigration agreement, during a special session of the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council on Jan. 21, 2026.

Upholding their sovereignty, the Oglala Tribal Council confirmed that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement asked the Tribe to enter into Section 287(g), a federal agreement that would have allowed tribal law enforcement to act as immigration agents for ICE.

During the discussion, Council members said Lakotas are being targeted by ICE in Denver and Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Earlier, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security denied that it asked the Oglala Lakota Nation for any agreement. DHS also said there was no record of four Lakota arrested by ICE in Minneapolis during the ongoing ICE sweeps.

The national media rushed to publish DHS's statement.

Meanwhile, the search continues for Lakotas who were reported arrested by ICE and disappeared at Fort Snelling, the site of removal and genocide of Dakota people in Minneapolis.

Cheyenne River Lakota Chairman Ryman LeBeau said the tribe has banned ICE. "By resolution at the January 16, 2026 Special Session Council approved to ban ICE from entering the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation."

"We will defend our sovereignty and protect our community always. Lakota oyate have always been here."

ICE is terrorizing Native Americans. A Navajo on his way to work in the Phoenix Valley at 4 a.m. was grabbed by ICE. Another Dine' was jailed by ICE in Denver.

A Pascua Yaqui tribal member grabbed near Tohono O'odham's San Xavier District bordering Tucson, reveals how federal agents are terrorizing U.S. citizens and migrants in detention, screaming profanity and threatening their lives.

In Oklahoma, Absentee Shawnee are now being harassed and detained by ICE agents. The Leech Lake Chairman in Minnesota said nearly 100 tribal members, U.S. citizens, had been illegally detained. Most were released after hours in detention.

While ICE is terrorizing the nation, and grabbing Dine' off the streets, Navajo President Buu Nygren, playing politics, says there are no funds for tribal IDs.

Meanwhile, the secretive deportation flights continue from Minneapolis and elsewhere. Guantanamo is one of the destinations.

Ghost flights, without call names or numbers, flights that do not officially exist, are deporting migrants out of Minneapolis international airport, Terminal 1. Migrants, shackled from their wrists to their feet, and often abused, deported without due process, are flown to deportation hubs where they are then deported to other countries.

The hubs are at airports in Texas; Alexandria in central Louisiana; Miami and elsewhere. Eastern airline flights out of the airport in Mesa, Arizona, in the Phoenix Valley, are deporting migrants to Venezuela. The flights, as shown on ICE Flight Tracker, are secretly deporting migrants to every region of the world.

The Indigenous Protector Movement in Minneapolis is serving the community.

"What is happening here is not abstract. It is being lived in real time by our neighbors, our relatives, our elders, our youth. Families are being terrorized. Communities are being destabilized. And still—our people are standing."

"The Indigenous Protector Movement is continuing daily rapid response patrols, community observation, and care-based support operations. We are holding space, providing safety, and meeting immediate needs at Powwow Grounds and All My Relations Gallery (14th & Franklin). These spaces remain active hubs for community care, rest, and coordination."

Read more at Censored News:

Oglala Sioux Nation Bans ICE in South Dakota, Rejects Federal Agreement
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2026/01/oglala-lakota-nation-bans-ice-rejects.html

Cheyenne River Sioux Nation Bans ICE in South Dakota
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2026/01/cheyenne-river-lakota-nation-bans-ice.html

Navajo President Claims No Money for Tribal IDs, While ICE Terrorizes Native Americans and the Nation
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2026/01/ice-terrorizing-native-people-and.html

ICE Terrorizing Navajo, Pascua Yaqui, and Absentee Shawnee in Arizona and Oklahoma
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2026/01/ice-terrorizing-navajo-yaqui-and.html

Indigenous Protector Movement: Week Three
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2026/01/indigenous-protector-movement-entering.html

Censored News is in its 19th year as a service to Indigenous Peoples, with no ads, salaries or revenues. It was created in 2006, after longtime staff reporter Brenda Norrell was censored and fired by Indian Country Today. Now, Censored News is a collective of writers focused on human rights, with more than 27 million page views.