To the Nation from the Tribal Chair, Joseph “Zeke” Rupnick:
Dear Tribal Members,
Since the beginning of the year, there have been many changes all around us. Some of those changes have brought a lot of fear and questions. The Council is aware of the concerns, and I assure you we are working through the chaos.
As some of you may know, the President has issued many executive orders. A couple of those orders will have a direct effect on Tribal members. I will briefly discuss them and provide some direction that may help.
The first order I will discuss is the deportation of illegal immigrants. There are many posts on social media claiming they are targeting Tribal members. While I cannot verify all the claims, I am asking our members, now more than anytime, carry all your documentation, Tribal ID cards, driver license, or if you selected to get one, the enhanced Tribal ID. You can get an enhanced Tribal ID through member services. We know this order targets people of color and the order enlists local law enforcement and national guard to help with the deportation. Given the current racial profiling with our local law enforcement, I would expect them to increase their racial profiling and stop many Tribal Members. My suggestion is follow the instructions, show your ID and if needed, ask why your was pulled over and the reason for the stop. Council is working on cards that will be given to the members that further explain your actions should you be stopped.
The second executive order is freeze of funding. While this memo from OMB has been suspended, I do expect there will be some harm done to the Nation because of this order. We are currently monitoring all grants to assess the damage and once things stabilize, we will look at our options for remedies.
In closing, now is not the time to start implementing actions without fully understanding everything involved. We need to remain calm, and we will get through this as we did with the COVID pandemic. I assure you we are monitoring the actions from DC and will setup discussions with our lawmakers.
Migwett
Joseph P. Rupnick, Chairman
Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation