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A Native American tribe in Kansas<\/a> is facing criticism from other tribal groups after its economic development subsidiary secured a $29.9m federal contract from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to design potential Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)<\/a> detention facilities.<\/p>\n The development entity of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation<\/a> signed the contract to design the detention facilities in October, leading to criticism that the tribal group, which was uprooted from the Great Lakes region to reservation lands north of Topeka, Kansas, in the 1830s, was itself benefiting from forced removals under the Trump administration.<\/p>\n In a video statement<\/a> released on Friday, tribal chair Joseph \u201cZeke\u201d Rupnick confirmed that KPB Services \u2013 a subsidiary of Prairie Band LLC<\/a>, the nation\u2019s economic arm \u2013 had signed the contract and apologized for the \u201cconcern, frustration and confusion\u201d it had caused. \u201cRight now, we are looking at all options concerning exiting this contract. We met with legal counsel immediately, and the process is still under way,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know our Indian reservations were the government\u2019s first attempts at detention centers,\u201d Rupnick added. \u201cSo we must ask ourselves why we would ever participate in something that mirrors the harm and trauma once done to our people.\u201d<\/p>\n The statement came after the 4,500-member tribe said it had fired the economic development leaders who brokered the deal. \u201cWe are known across the nation now as traitors and treasonous to another race of people,\u201d Ray Rice, a 74-year-old who said he and other tribal members were blindsided by the deal, told the Associated Press<\/a>.<\/p>\n Carole Cadue-Blackwood, who has Prairie Band Potawatomi ancestry and is an enrolled member of the Kickapoo Tribe in Kansas, hopes the contract dies. She has been part of the fight against an ICE detention center opening in Leavenworth, Kansas, and works for a social service agency for Native Americans<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m in just utter disbelief that this has happened,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n In a statement on Tuesday, the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation and Prairie Band LLC had acknowledged that the DHS contract \u201cdoes not align\u201d with its principles and they would \u201censure all future engagements align clearly with our values and mission\u201d.<\/p>\n Questions are also being raised about why the Potawatomi\u2019s development subsidy was selected for a sizable government contract without having to compete for the work. Sole-source contracts above $30m require additional justification under federal contracting rules.<\/p>\n KPB Services was registered in April by Prairie Band LLC executive vice-president Ernest Woodward, a former naval officer and member of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma who describes himself as the \u201cgo-to\u201d adviser for tribes and affiliated companies seeking to land federal contracts.<\/p>\n The company has reportedly positioned itself to pursue government contracts, Native News Online reported<\/a>. Other tribal groups, including Alaska Native corporations, have also held contracts worth millions, including detention facility operations, guard services and border patrol support.<\/p>\n Earlier this year, the Guardian reported<\/a> that the Nana Native American corporations also staff or support ICE detention facilities near Miami, in upstate New York, in El Paso, Texas, and in San Pedro, California, according the website Turtle Talk<\/a>. An LLC owned by the Poarch Band of Creek Indians in Alabama also has a multimillion-dollar contract with ICE to provide support to a detention facility in Alabama.<\/p>\n A Tribal Resources Guide<\/a> published by the DHS describes tribal nations as \u201ccritical partners in our homeland security efforts, and DHS\u2019s Office of Intergovernmental Affairs promotes an integrated national approach to homeland security by coordinating and advancing federal interaction with state, local, tribal, and territorial governments\u201d.<\/p>\n The arrangements bring important revenue to Native American tribes that are under increased economic pressure because of decreased federal funding, reduced reservation visitors, high inflation and competition from online gambling.<\/p>\n But the economic opportunities presented to tribes don\u2019t always align with cultural values. Native Americans have also been detained by ICE during immigration sweeps, including last month when actor Elaine Miles said she was stopped by ICE agents who alleged her ID from the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon \u201clooked fake<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n In January, the Navajo Nation president, Buu Nygren, said his office had received reports that tribal members had had \u201cnegative, and sometimes traumatizing, experiences with federal agents targeting undocumented immigrants in the south-west\u201d.<\/p>\n
Regional Corporation, one of 13 regional Alaskan Native corporations, had been contracted through a subsidiary to run detention facilities at the Guant\u00e1namo Bay<\/a> naval base in Cuba.<\/p>\n