“Tribal IDs—the government issued those damn cards to us like a pedigree dog! It’s not fake!”

 

Native American actor says she was detained by ICE officers who said tribal ID ‘looked fake’

Elaine Miles of Northern Exposure was stopped by four masked men in Seattle while walking to bus stop

Edward Helmore

Fri 28 Nov 2025 14.17 EST

A Native American actor known for her role in Northern Exposure has said she was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in Seattle, Washington, who told her that her tribal identification “looked fake”.

Elaine Miles, an Indigenous actor, alleges that she was stopped by four masked men while she was walking to a bus stop in Redmond. She offered them her ID card from the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon but was told by an ICE agent that “anyone can make that.”

Miles, who also appeared in The Last of Us, Smoke Signals, The Business of Fancydancing and Skins, told the ICE agents to call the tribal enrollment office number on the card.

According to a report of the encounter by the Seattle Times, the officers refused. Miles called the office herself, whereupon one officer tried to take her phone but failed. Then the men released her and departed in their vehicles.

Miles alleges that a similar thing has happened to her son and uncle – they have previously been detained and later released by ICE officers who would not initially accept their tribal identification.

According to a post on Facebook by the Lakota People’s Law Project, Miles told the group: “Tribal IDs—the government issued those damn cards to us like a pedigree dog! It’s not fake!”

Miles’ account chimes with others of Native Americans being swept up in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Native News Online reports that an Indigenous woman born in Phoenix was mistakenly detained by immigration authorities after being released from jail in Des Moines, Iowa.

“What we’re talking about here is racial profiling,” Seattle-based Indigenous rights attorney Gabriel Galanda told the Seattle newspaper. “People are getting pulled over or detained on the street because of the dark color of their skin.”

Galanda said that the agents’ refusal to accept Miles’ ID points to “a fair amount of ignorance about tribal citizenship generally in society and in government”.

According to the outlet, the actor’s encounter with ICE agents came on the same day that ICE agents made several arrests at Redmond’s Bear Creek Village shopping center, prompting city council to switch off its license-plate-reading cameras.

Earlier this year, the Navajo nation announced it was taking steps to protect its community from federal immigration actions, amid reports that some Indigenous Americans have been swept up in US deportation raids.

After Miles was detained, she said she was now afraid to leave the house alone or at night. Galanda said that the prospect of Native Americans being detained is reminiscent of the country’s troubled history with Indigenous peoples.

“It’s also deeply troubling that in 2025, the first people of this country have to essentially look over their shoulders,” she added.

SOURCE: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/28/elaine-miles-actor-ice-detained-id-fake