Where Does One Deport a Native American?

Like many people I am appalled that ICE nearly deported a Native American woman.

From the Arizona Mirror:

A day before Arizona native Leticia Jacobo was scheduled to be released from an Iowa jail, her mom visited to verify pickup details with the staff. Ericka Burns was excited to drive her daughter home after spending a month apart and wanted to make sure Jacobo wasn’t forced to wait a minute longer than necessary. 

But jail staff told Burns that Jacobo wouldn’t be let go because she would be turned over to immigration agents — even though Jacobo is Native American. 

The 24-year-old was born in Phoenix and is a member of Arizona’s Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community. She was booked into the Polk County Jail in Des Moines, Iowa, where she currently lives, in September for allegedly driving with a suspended license. Jacobo was scheduled to be released on Nov. 11, but what should have been a routine process was complicated and delayed by an erroneously issued ICE detainer. She was ultimately allowed to leave just before 4:30 a.m. on Nov. 12. 

Maria Nunez, Burns’ sister, said that it was terrifying to be told that Jacobo would be taken by federal agents, especially because no one appeared willing to correct the mistake at first.

“My sister said, ‘How is she going to get deported if she’s a Native American?’ and ‘We have proof,’” Nunez recounted. “They said, ‘Well, we don’t know because we’re not immigration and we can’t answer those questions. We’re just holding her for them. So, when they pick her up tonight they’re going to go ahead and deport her to wherever they’re going to take her, but we have no information on that.’”

After Jacobo's family moved Heaven and Earth to prove she is a U.S. citizen, Polk County authorities claimed it was a clerical error. However, the family is skeptical since Jacobo had been previously booked at this same facility and was in possession of her tribal documents. Indeed, the order to turn Jacobo over to ICE was issued a week before and Jacobo was never given notification.

At the very minimum, staff at the jail just didn't care until the family made a fuss about it. If Jacobo's family hadn't advocated for her so forcefully then what would have happened to her?

Most likely she would have been deported. But where exactly does one deport a Native American?

The fact that I have to pose the question proves the Trump Administration views citizenship on account of race. To them, an Indigenous person looks no different than a Mexican or a Venezuelan and are thus viewed as subhuman. To the Trump Administration, the ties Native Americans to our land has no meaning. How else does one explain their insistence on targeting Native Americans nearly from the moment from retaking office?

In the grand scheme of things, Leticia Jacobo was lucky. Unfortunately, it is very likely Trump Administration will continue to target Native American communities through the boorish behavior of ICE combined with the indifference of local law enforcement agencies. It is only a matter a time before a Native American is deported to El Salvador, Rwanda or Liberia.