The Last of Us star Elaine Miles, who also starred in Northern Exposure, said she was stopped by ICE agents in Washington while agents claimed her tribal ID was ‘fake.’
Native American actress Elaine Miles has alleged she was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in Oregon, who reportedly called her tribal ID “fake.”
Miles, famous for playing Marilyn Whirlwind in Northern Exposure and Florence in The Last of Us, says she was heading to a bus stop in Redmond, Washington, en route to Target when four masked men in ICE-labeled vests emerged from two black SUVs without front license plates and demanded her identification.
The 65 year old actress from the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon says she presented her tribal ID. Tribal identification is accepted as legitimate documentation by federal agencies, and Miles reports she has previously used it without problems when traveling to Canada and Mexico.
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Actress held by ICE with sone and uncle
But according to The Seattle Times, Miles alleges one agent declared the ID was “fake” while another supposedly remarked, “Anyone can make that.”
The actress claims ICE agents held her, her son, and her uncle. The officers initially refused to accept their tribal identification cards, Miles stated, reports the Irish Star.
They were ultimately released. Elaine expressed her concern that the men, who failed to provide their names and badge numbers when asked, might have been bounty hunters.
She also mentioned that when the agents doubted the authenticity of her tribal ID, she encouraged them to verify it by calling the Umatilla Tribal enrollment office listed on the card.
However, when they refused to make the call, Elaine decided to take matters into her own hands by pulling out her phone – a move she claims was met with an unsuccessful attempt by the agents to seize her device. At this point, another man in the SUV whistled, prompting the men to return to their vehicles and depart, according to Elaine.
Seattle-based Indigenous rights attorney Gabriel Galanda, who is not representing Elaine, suggested that such incidents are often the result of “racial profiling” telling the newspaper, “People are getting pulled over or detained on the street because of the dark color of their skin.”
While Galanda advises Indigenous individuals to always carry their IDs, he noted that these types of detentions are uncommon and he doesn’t want people to live in fear. “The prospect of the First Peoples being physically or forcibly stopped or detained is harrowing and reminiscent of this country’s original treatment of the First Peoples,” he stated.
“It’s also deeply troubling that in 2025, the first people of this country have to essentially look over their shoulders.”
The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation comprises three tribes: the Umatilla, Cayuse, and Walla Walla tribes.
Three tribes
The Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission elaborates, “When the leaders of the three tribes signed a treaty with the United States in 1855, they ceded 6.4 million acres of homeland in what is now northeastern Oregon and southeastern Washington. The 172,000-acre Umatilla Indian Reservation, almost half of which is owned by non-Indians, includes significant portions of the Umatilla River watershed.
“Today the confederation, united under a single tribal government adopted in 1949, numbers over 2,800 members (2011). The Umatilla are governed by a Board of Trustees composed of nine members elected by the General Council. Tribal headquarters are located in Mission, just outside Pendleton, Oregon.”
The Irish Star has reached out to ICE for a statement.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.themirror.com ’
