Members of the Wabanaki Nations are fearful of being swept up in immigration enforcement activity, tribal clerks say.
Requests for tribal identification cards surged in Maine as federal agents descended upon the state last month.
A wave of so-called enhanced immigration enforcement — which resulted in the arrest of over 200 people, according to the Department of Homeland Security — began Jan. 20, prompting calls from tribal leaders for members to carry ID.
According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, tribal documents can fall into the same category as a U.S. Citizen ID card.
Lindsey Loring, who works the front administrative desk for the Penobscot Nation, said that until January, she had issued five to 10 IDs each month. The number of requests shot up in late January to four or five per week.
Nervousness about being detained drove the spike in requests, Loring said.
There has also been a notable increase in requests from tribal members living out of state, who cannot get IDs without showing up in person but are issued identifying paperwork certifying their tribal membership.
The Penobscot Nation has about 2,400 enrolled members, of which about 1,000 live outside Maine.
Figures provided by the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, in Aroostook County, indicate the tribe issued about 100 tribal IDs annually over the last three years, but has issued over 30 already in 2026.
The clerk for the Mi’kmaq Nation said there has been an increase in requests for IDs, but attributed the rush to factors beyond immigration enforcement.
Chiefs of several Wabanaki tribes, including the Penobscot Nation and both Passamaquoddy communities, urged tribal members to carry their IDs during the crackdown.
“We know that many of you have heard reports of ICE interactions involving individuals who are, by law and by birthright, citizens of Tribal Nations,” Penobscot Chief Kirk Francis wrote in a Jan. 20 letter posted on Facebook. “News and social media reports indicate that ICE has detained several Native Americans throughout the country and have conducted raids on facilities located on Tribal lands. The Tribal government has verified that some of these reports are true, and some are false.”
Clarissa Sabattis, the chief of the Houlton Band, in a written statement echoed her peers’ previous directives.
There have been no reports that any Wabanaki people have been detained or arrested by federal authorities. However, members of other tribes nationwide have been stopped, and say federal agents are not always satisfied with tribal ID as proof of citizenship.
Reuben M. Schafir is a Report for America corps member who writes about Indigenous communities for the Portland Press Herald.
