Native American’s Tribal ID deemed “fake” by ICE

Indigenous actress Elaine Miles is most remembered from the 1990s TV show “Northern Exposure,” though more recently, she was as a guest star on an episode of “Last of Us.” But this week, she says she was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement after officers questioned the legitimacy of her tribal ID, calling it “fake.”

Miles holds a federally recognized tribal enrollment card from the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation — a document that establishes her as both a member of her nation and a U.S. citizen. Tribal IDs have long been accepted forms of identification by federal agencies, including the Transportation Security Administration and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Yet Miles’ experience highlights a recurring problem: Native Americans, the first inhabi