As immigration crackdowns continue in Minnesota and nationwide, there have been several instances of Native Americans being detained and questioned — raising concerns among Nevada tribes that their members could be next.

Members of Nevada’s nearly 30 federally recognized tribes who spoke with The Indy expressed concerns about being targeted by immigration agents. And earlier this month, the chairman of the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, Daryl D. Gardipe, alongside Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Chairman Steven Wadsworth, met with a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official regarding ICE policies on tribal lands.

In an open letter posted to the colony’s website, Gardipe said the ICE official affirmed that agents have no reason to enter tribal lands and that they respect the tribal sovereignty of all communities within the state. Gardipe also wrote that if a Native American encounters an ICE agent, they should only need to state that they are Native to stop further inquiry. 

“These assurances were important to hear directly from ICE leadership,” Gardipe wrote. “We are proactively engaging with state and federal agencies to protect our sovereignty.”

Still, concerns linger about whether ICE will abide by their commitment. As sovereign nations, the authority for ICE to enforce immigration laws on tribal lands is contested, with specific policies varying from tribe to tribe, and in late 2025, ICE launched a new initiative within its 287(g) program to allow tribal law enforcement agencies to carry out immigration enforcement, although ICE’s website doesn’t provide information about whether any tribes have applied or are participating. 

Meanwhile, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto’s (D-NV) office told The Nevada Independent in January of an instance in which a tribal citizen in Nevada had their identity questioned by immigration enforcement officials, which led to an increase of people requesting tribal IDs, a form of photo identification for members of Native American tribes. 

Since 1924, Congress has guaranteed birthright citizenship to all Native Americans born in the United States.

Neither the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe nor Reno-Sparks Indian Colony responded to requests for comment. 

“It’s important to remind the non-indigenous government that they are on indigenous lands,” Josh Dini, a member of the Walker River Paiute Tribe, told The Indy. “ICE just can't come on because they feel like it. There’s a process that they have to follow as well.”

‘Not big awareness’ about ICE

Margo Ortiz, a member of the Walker River Paiute Tribe who lives in Fresno, told The Indy that last year, her husband — who is a legal U.S. resident — was detained during a workplace raid in California. 

In January, Ortiz reached out to Walker River Paiute Tribe for help, requesting a tribal ID just in case something were to go wrong. The tribe’s reservation, located in Central Nevada, is home to about 800 members. 

“My tribal chairwoman made me feel very supported,” Ortiz said. “She informed me that Walker River is already looking for ways to help our people. It's just that there was not a big awareness in the Native community in Nevada or our tribe.” 

Ortiz said she is particularly concerned because of a recent ICE memo that permits agents to  forcibly enter homes of people without a judicial warrant. Her husband is currently detained in Pennsylvania, and she is concerned that because of her husband’s ongoing immigration case, that ICE officers may visit their home and take her and her son. 

“What if we were taken?” Ortiz asked. “What if one of my children were taken? What would my tribe do to help us? How will we be identified?” 

Dini, who sits on the enrollment committee for the Walker River Paiute Tribe, said that he has not noticed an increase in requests for tribal IDs, but he is “not surprised” that they’ve recently received more attention. He said that members have been encouraged to carry their IDs on them in recent months and that the process for securing one is fairly accessible, taking 2-3 weeks to complete and with no associated fees. 

“It still seems people are still managing their lives daily. I know that some are concerned. Their alerts are a little bit higher, but I don't think it’s really been a concerning issue,” Dini told The Indy. 

Although she no longer lives on the reservation, Ortiz said that some of her family members have voiced concerns about family members being racially profiled. She said they’ve noticed an increase in people of color being pulled over in the surrounding areas and she feels that the political climate can be charged, with a nearby government facility being named after the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk. 

“It puts a little fear in them,” Ortiz said. 

Steven Wadsworth, the chairman of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, voiced concerns about misinformation flaming political tensions in a letter he posted online on Feb 9th about the ICE meeting. He cited an incident of false information being spread a few weeks ago, although he did not provide more details.  

Despite that, he encouraged members of Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe to update their enrollment cards if needed and said the tribe is looking at creating a scannable bar code for the IDs. He emphasized that ICE officials will not carry out activities on Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe’s land.

“Not everything you on Facebook, or the media, unfortunately, can be taken as factual,” Wadsworth wrote. “Sometimes it is difficult with the current regime in DC, but nevertheless it is our cause to make sure that not only are our Tribal Members safe and healthy, but our lake and river.”