ICE Finds Indigenous People Still 'Illegal' On Their Own Land
The Independent reports Indigenous actor Elaine Miles was detained by ICE, her Cherokee tribal ID dismissed as 'fake.' This isn't just an overzealous agent; it's a re-enactment of historical erasure. The US government, despite its own treaties (literally hundreds of them, many broken), struggles to recognize Indigenous sovereignty. It's a system designed to invalidate Indigenous identity that
predates the very acronym 'ICE.' One might wonder: how can a sovereign nation's identification paperwork be 'fake' to the very government that purports to acknowledge its existence? The irony is as thick as federal bureaucracy. Perhaps ICE needs a history lesson, or perhaps this deliberate ignorance serves a convenient, colonial purpose: who needs valid ID when you can just declare the people
'foreigners' on their ancestral land?