Two Native-owned corporations cancel ICE contracts after community pressure

Two Native American-owned corporations have cancelled contracts with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement following objections from tribal citizens and leaders, according to CBC News Indigenous.

A subsidiary of Oneida ESC Group, owned by the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, cancelled a $3.8 million contract with ICE for engineering and inspection services after the Oneida government became aware of the agreement. The Oneida government also replaced the subsidiary’s board of managers. Oneida Nation Chairman Tahassi Hill said in an email to CBC Indigenous that nations must act when issues conflict with their laws, policies and core values.

Last month, the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation in Kansas cancelled a $29.9 million contract its corporation held with ICE for planning and design work and dismissed senior leadership, according to statements cited by CBC News Indigenous. Prairie Band Potawatomi Chairman Joseph “Zeke” Rupnick said reservations were the government’s “first attempts at detention centres” and said participating in such contracts mirrored historic harm done to Native people.