In the Trump administration’s arguments defending his order to suspend birthright citizenship, the Justice Department called into question the citizenship of Native Americans born in the United States under the 14th Amendment, citing 19th-century law that excluded Native Americans from birthright citizenship.

Tribal nations in Utah and throughout the U.S. are telling their citizens to hold tight to their IDs amid reports that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have been targeting Indigenous Americans.

Trump’s recognition of the Lumbee has been condemned by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, who also inhabit North Carolina and have argued for more than a century that the Lumbee are not a tribe but a “self-identifying” mixed-race group that has little ancestral and cultural connection.

Posts on social media claimed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents had targeted members of Native American nations for detention and deportation. Indeed, as ICE ramped up arrests for deportation,

Some Native American tribes say tribal members are being harassed by federal immigration agents, while others fear they could be wrongly caught up in immigration raids Why it matters: The angst among some Indigenous tribes reflects the confusion and fear even among legal citizens during the Trump administration's immigration raids.

"Stopping people because of what they look like — with dark skin, Asian, Latino or Native American characteristics is never acceptable," the group says in a letter.