Scare tactic? Tlingit leader warns tribe members to carry identification, or risk deportation by Trump

By
Suzanne Downing
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87
Photo credit: Chief CBP Agent Gloria I. Chavez.

The president of the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe has sent a letter to members warning of possible arrest and deportation due to President Donald Trump’s recent executive orders.

Cynthia Petersen said that tribal members should carry tribal identification cards issued by the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, or their “certificate of degree of Indian Blood card (CDIB). They should keep this ID on them at all times.

She said “there are discussions that include the potential deportation of Native Americans,” under the “troubling assumption that no one can tell the difference.”

The executive order she is referring to pertains to the immediate deportation of illegal immigrants, who flooded into the country by the millions during the term of President Joe Biden. She presumes tribal members do not have any other form of legal identification.

Navajo Nation Deputy Attorney General Kris Beecher preached the same fear message last week, saying that tribal members should carry their state and tribal IDs at all times, since the Trump Administration is acting quickly to deport illegals and mistakes could be made.

Petersen’s letter can be read here:

87 COMMENTS

    • The TDS is getting worse by the day. They/them cannot accept they are a singular person now. And they all need state identification.

  2. Did you all get your Alaska driver’s license when the new law took hold in 2019? If not, you need to get it done and carry other ID and passport or like, identification. We all had an inkling this was going to be our reality. Some did not pay attention. Keep your children with you and always pay attention to your surroundings and whom is in your comfort space.

    • Really DK ?? Let’s see to board an airplane you need picture id. To buy booze you need picture id. To buy cigarettes you need picture id and to fn drive you need picture id. Any more stupid comments. It’s been like this for 80 years or more.

      • You are right! the world is like a festering sore on a bed of red hot burning coals. It’s getting hotter too! When it gets hot enough, its WWIII. Intrusion and invasion into every area of life. Protecting self and family with every good means available is smart and accepting that the world keeps changing is a good thing. Quit fighting it and make the changes as they come.

      • To get welfare you need an ID.
        To get Section 8 housing you need ID.
        To get food stamps you need an ID.
        In reality, comments like this towards white people are racist.
        Stop it.
        You have plenty of problems in your community – incest, domestic violence, drug and alcohol abuse, illiteracy – that are you’re own doing.
        Stop pointing fingers at others – that’s a slave mentality believing others are in control of your destiny.
        Trump won – we can speak the truth, right?

        • Can you show me a cigarette machine that is in a public area open to all ages? Can you show one that has been in an all ages open area the past 40 years?

    • Under the 4th and 5th Amendments no one need carry any ID unless they anticipate a circumstance whereby they will need it. Say, to pick up certified mail, vote in an election, travel on a commercial aircraft, buy liquor or cigarettes, etc. Otherwise, the only justification for government representatives to demand your ID is if they are arresting you for a crime. In that case they must clearly articulate their reasons for accusing you of said crime. You don’t “need” a driver’s license to freely exist as a citizen in our republic.

      • It’s a free ticket for police to detain.you pending identification. Carrying your ID is basic common sense. Ever hear of the term “everyday carry”?

        • Not true Reggie, Police must have reasonable suspicion that you have committed or are about to commit a crime before they can legally detain and ask for that ID. It’s called RAS or Reasonable Articulable Suspicion. There is nothing in the law, with the exception of driving, that states you must even carry ID. know your rights and never talk to the police, they are paid to hem you up and find that reason to arrest you and impose fines. that’s not to say that they won’t lie and try to make up some story to justify the stop, but that is where your knowledge picks up and should put a stop to it. record the encounter and if they do violate your rights go to jail with a smile on your face and file that federal lawsuit to revoke their immunity and sue the pants off of them and the municipality they work for.

          • You still have not provided a direct, honest response as to why anyone should not carry a valid ID with them.

      • Coogan; it’s not legally mandatory to carry your ID with you at all times. It’s just good common sense. When driving, the probability of you getting into an accident or getting a ticket for running a red light is pretty high. Why should you not carry an ID?

    • Oh, the drama…Really WWIII? There were zero wars under Trump before, Name one war Trump started….I’ll wait.

    • I am glad you can see that, CA. When folks make up these scaremonger tactics, they don’t even realize how it insults the natives in this case. It’s like saying we can’t have VoterID because some people (minorities) don’t know how to navigate the internet or the DMV or… Eventually, these groups must wake up and tell the “noble caretakers” to stop treating them like children.

    • CA, the above report is not intended to make NATIVES look stupid. The report merely points to the actions of a couple of Stupid Stooges within the Democrat Party apparatus, (who in this case happen to be NATIVE).

      Native people survived the Ice Age (as did everyone else in the Northern Hemisphere), said survival required that our ancestors be resourceful and intelligent. Sadly, having a D on your voter registration now places those qualities in doubt.

  5. Lots of hysteria based on total ignorance. It’s hard to imagine that this made it into a news story. Perhaps our esteemed Senators can inform these tribal member about the truth involving the national immigration policy.

    • If I leave my house with intent to use my debit/credit card, I WANT the cashier to verify I am using my card. Therefore, I keep my ID in my wallet just for that reason alone.

      Drunk natives get denied their booze if they don’t have a valid picture ID.. which this native tribe is promoting. UGH.

  13. We put hysterical and incompetent people in positions of power and then wonder why things are falling apart. This needs to stop. We can do better.

  14. Trump needs to charge all of the South and Central American countries …..and Mexico for deportation air flights home. Send them bills,
    Donald, large bills. Make them pay for their own criminals

    • That would be nice, but unrealistic. The justification for using military flights is that it is much cheaper than airliners, welfare, or prison. Just pack’em full, Mr. President.

  15. Could someone please produce a training video on differentiating between Hispanics and Indigenous Peoples? Would make a great comedy bit.

  16. Check and mate. 2 birds, one stone.

    With these actions, not only will we eliminate the invaders from our country, but the Dems will now push minorities to get IDs. No more excuses against voter ID.

    Hell yeah

  19. Didn’t realize you had to be that hysterically stupid to be president of the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe.
    .
    If you, Cynthia Petersen, are not spending every waking minute using your exalted position to get justice for Thomas Jack, then, in our non-humble opinion, maybe you should just be quiet, carry identification like every other American, and let the adults handle America’s border emergency?
    .
    Won’t you have plenty to say when illegal aliens squat on Tlingit land… when dopers start growing product in Tlingit country? What, deportation’s a problem now because it disturbs certain arrangements, shall we say, that are better left undisturbed?

  22. Only an idiot would wander out into this dangerous society without ID. That’s pretty much begging for a night in jail.

    • no, breaking the law is what lands people in jail. Not having a valid ID after getting caught committing a crime is a bonus.

  23. So ignorant. Anyone who has dealt with ICE or Border Patrol knows they have many Hispanic officers (and I know of one native) and they know how to identify illegal aliens. So much paranoia and the press fans the flames.

  24. Many Alaska Natives and/or non-Natives have been living in uncertainty and FEAR for decades within Alaska jurisdictional borders. Alaska is a P.L. 280 mandatory State with concurrent jurisdictions. There are 574 Tribal governments within the United States and 229 of the Tribal governments are here in Alaska. The federal government gives millions of dollars to the State and to tribes for law enforcement.

    Where does justice for all Alaskans exist within our courts and/or governments here in Alaska?

    When Tribal Native Leaders coverup known major criminal crimes within the State and/or a T/TO what CERTAIN protections does a tribal citizen and/or a non-tribal citizen have against perpetrators of major criminal crimes and certain Tribal Native Leaders that obstruct justice and violate laws.

    Should sovereignty shield/protect documented criminals within concurrent jurisdictional borders (Indian Country) here in Alaska?

    Should sovereignty shield/protect federal fraud aka “hush money” to coverup major criminal crimes within concurrent jurisdictional boarders (Indian Country) here in Alaska?

    A Presidential Executive Order is immediately needed to ensure that every Alaskan is free from judicial corruption and obstruction of justice within the whole State of Alaska.

  25. Cynthia Petersen sounds like a very stupid person.
    Stupid and hysterical are a bad combination.
    Does she really believe that Tom Homan and ICE are going descend upon……Yakutat??

  27. I have worked customer service most my adult life here in Alaska. It’s a daily occurrence with native’s to try and use their Tribal card (that has no picture most the time.. or their birthday) They always get belligerent
    and demanding when we tell them this is not a valid ID. They are happy to take the time to get a Tribal ID card, but are too lazy to get a state ID card for some reason.

    People like Cynthia help promote their laziness.

      • relevant
        adjective
        rel·​e·​vant ˈre-lə-vənt
        Synonyms of relevant
        a : having significant and demonstrable bearing on the matter at hand
        b: affording evidence tending to prove or disprove the matter at issue or under discussion
        relevant testimony
        c: having social relevance

  28. Looks like Mrs. Petersen was trying to cram as many buzzwords as possible into this propaganda piece. Birthright citizenship huh?
    She is clearly uninformed about the methods and procedures of ICE and Border Patrol. Her hyperbolic factually false diatribe conjures up visions of police walking down main street Yakutat like a pose and arresting willy-nilly everyone, who happens to walk there. What a crock! ICE have intel and warrants for specific individuals or groups and they go out, arrest and then deport them. This isn’t Casablanca where they simply “round up the usual suspects”!

    • Sir, I respectfully disagree, they are equally stupid and ill informed. After all, Peterson got her list of buzzwords directly from AOC

  30. I feel there may be some truth to Petersons statement, remember Musk was born in Apartheid South Africa his father and Grandfather were white supremacist, the apple don’t fall far from the tree, his fellow PayPal buddies had similar beliefs, he couldn’t run for President so he funds Trump campaign $270,000,000 to buy his way in, prior to the purchase he believed Trump was an idiot. Now he answers to no one and is dictating his desired policies, most of you Trumpers in your own words say a drivers license don’t prove citizenship.

    • A driver’s license does not prove citizenship. I know of several folks who are not US Citizens that have US State issued driver’s licenses. They are living in the US legally as permanent residents (green card holders) and have a legal right to drive.
      .
      One would have to be an absolute idiot to think a driver’s license proves citizenship in any way.

    • While your prejudice is astounding, it is true that driver’s licenses do not proof citizenship. However a tribal ID card does that even less, so why does Mrs. Petersen insist it is THE document to carry for ID???
      Then there is the Real ID, which requires documentation to obtain one, like a passport or birth certificate etc.. Seems to me a more appropriate means of identification.

  31. SCARE TACTIC??? Like any good leader Cynthia is simply addressing concerns both real and imagined expressed by those she represents. Unless you are a member if the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe or someone within their organization you are not in any position to involve yourselves in their business. “Scare tactic”? Just who are they supposed to scare?? That is an unfortunate comment voiced out of ignorance with a not so subtle smell of bigotry.

    • Sorry Skip this is not an internal issue of the tribe. She clearly pits tribal members against law enforcement in general and ICE in particular in order the create angst and distrust. This is subversive and malicious, as it has racial undertones and implies that ICE is too stupid to distinguish one brown skinned person from another, which is patently false. ICE operates with warrants and retainers to clearly identify individuals, who are criminal illegals.
      One would think that she would support removing illegal criminals from their region or city, to promote safety for her members. Instead she urges members to be more afraid of authority than criminals. So for me she should mind the tribes business and not involve herself and her organization into areas she knows clearly nothing about! She is the bigot here, Skip!

  32. Talk about supposed racists motivations and assertions by tribal leaders. I’m as white as they come and I can tell the difference. Way to assume we all see you the same…

  36. Apparently a panic has erupted and even the mainstream media have had to write several articles reassuring tribal members that ICE isn’t after them and hasn’t even been seen in the neighborhood.

    Half hearted Facebook apology from the instigator.

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