{"id":23785,"date":"2025-01-28T18:23:47","date_gmt":"2025-01-29T01:23:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/know-your-rights-ute-mountain-ute-chairman-speaks-out-about-trumps-executive-orders\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T04:41:55","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T04:41:55","slug":"know-your-rights-ute-mountain-ute-chairman-speaks-out-about-trumps-executive-orders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/know-your-rights-ute-mountain-ute-chairman-speaks-out-about-trumps-executive-orders\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Know your rights\u2019: Ute Mountain Ute chairman speaks out about Trump\u2019s executive orders"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Ute
Ute Mountain Ute Chairman Manuel Heart speaks during a special announcement on Jan. 27 advising tribal members to carry a second form of identification and to know their rights amid talk that agents from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the area float around.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

In response to President Donald Trump\u2019s executive orders concerning immigration and citizenship, Ute Mountain Ute Chairman Manuel Heart streamed a special announcement on Jan. 27.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe as the Ute people have been here thousands of years,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are currently the oldest living resident in the state of Colorado, we have predated any government that has come to this country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet, Trump\u2019s executive orders \u201care now questioning our citizenship as Native Americans in the United States,\u201d Heart said.<\/p>\n

The tribal council is working on a plan to help protect all Ute Mountain Ute members on and off the reservation.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, he advised tribal members to update their tribal IDs and to additionally carry a secondary form of identification such as a state driver\u2019s license.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe understand that a lot of tribes are facing these U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids,\u201d Heart said.<\/p>\n

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is intending to target undocumented people, he said, \u201cBut in the mix of it, they\u2019re looking at us as noncitizens of this country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heart said there have been reports of ICE in the Four Corners region of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah. But \u201cnot sure how true that is, we need to be prepared in case they are here and checking around.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf stopped or pulled over by an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, try to comply,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

And if the agent makes you feel uncomfortable, call 911, a family member or tribal council member.<\/p>\n

\u201cKnow your rights as citizens of the Ute Mountain Ute tribe and the United States,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Do not let an agent into your home unless a they have a warrant signed by a judge to enter, and watch your children, Heart said, \u201cespecially after school and while you\u2019re out of your homes.\u201d<\/p>\n

He talked about how the Ute people are ingrained in the mountains and the land, and how the U.S. government recognizes them in treaties and the Constitution.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are recognized with inherent tribal right to self-government,\u201d Heart said.<\/p>\n

Native Americans are protected and recognized as American citizens in Article 6 and Amendment 14, Section 1 and 2 in the Constitution, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf things get worse in the future, the tribal council can and will declare a declaration of emergency,\u201d Heart said.<\/p>\n

He told tribal members to contact him at 570-1638 if they need help.<\/p>\n

The Southern Ute Indian Tribe posted a similar message on their website<\/a>, and advised tribal members on the reservation to contact the Southern Ute Police Department\u2019s nonemergency dispatch at (970) 563-4401. Members off the reservation in need of help should call 911.<\/p>\n

The story was updated on Jan. 31 at 6:44 a.m. to correct the Southern Ute Indian Tribe\u2019s contact information. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chairman Manuel Heart advises members to carry two forms of ID <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23786,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,904,29,144,547],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-23785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-immigration","tag-newsletter","tag-towaoc","tag-ute-mountain-ute-indian-tribe"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23785"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23785\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78263,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23785\/revisions\/78263"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23785"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=23785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}