By GRAHAM LEE BREWER, SAVANNAH PETERS and STEWART HUNTINGTON

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — When U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement flooded Minneapolis, Shane Mantz dug his Choctaw Nation citizenship card out of a box on his dresser and slid it into his wallet.

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Some strangers mistake the pest-control company manager for Latino, he said, and he fears getting caught up in ICE raids.

Like Mantz, many Native Americans are carrying tribal documents proving their U.S. citizenship in case they are stopped or questioned by federal immigration agents. This is why dozens of the 575 federally recognized Native nations are making it easier to get tribal IDs. They’re waiving fees, lowering the age of eligibility — ranging from 5 to 18 nationwide — and printing the cards faster.

It’s the first time tribal IDs have been widely used as proof of U.S. citizenship and protection against federal law enforcement, said David Wilkins, an expert on Native politics and governance at the University of Richmond.

“I don’t think there’s anything historically comparable,” Wilkins said. “I find it terribly frustrating and disheartening.”

As Native Americans around the country rush to secure documents proving their right to live in the United States, many see a bitter irony.

“As the first people of this land, there’s no reason why Native Americans should have their citizenship questioned,” said Jaqueline De León, a senior staff attorney with the nonprofit Native American Rights Fund and member of Isleta Pueblo.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security didn’t respond to more than four requests for comment over a week.

Native identity in a new age of fear

Since the mid- to late 1800s, the U.S. government has kept detailed genealogical records to estimate Native Americans’ fraction of “Indian blood” and determine their eligibility for health care, housing, education and other services owed under federal legal responsibilities. Those records were also used to aid federal assimilation efforts and chip away at tribal sovereignty, communal lands and identity.

Beginning in the late 1960s, many tribal nations began issuing their own forms of identification. In the last two decades, tribal photo ID cards have become commonplace and can be used to vote in tribal elections, to prove U.S. work eligibility and for domestic air travel.

About 70% of Native Americans today live in urban areas, including tens of thousands in the Twin Cities, one of the largest urban Native populations in the country.

There, in early January, a top ICE official announced the “largest immigration operation ever.”

Masked, heavily armed agents traveling in convoys of unmarked SUVs became commonplace in some neighborhoods. By this week, more than 3,400 people had been arrested, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. At least 2,000 ICE officers and 1,000 Border Patrol officers were on the ground.

Representatives from at least 10 tribes traveled hundreds of miles to Minneapolis — the birthplace of the American Indian Movement — to accept ID applications from members there. Among them were the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Ojibwe of Wisconsin, the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate of South Dakota and the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa of North Dakota.

Turtle Mountain citizen Faron Houle renewed his tribal ID card and got his young adult son’s and his daughter’s first ones.

“You just get nervous,” Houle said. “I think (ICE agents are) more or less racial profiling people, including me.”

Events in downtown coffee shops, hotel ballrooms, and at the Minneapolis American Indian Center helped urban tribal citizens connect and share resources, said Christine Yellow Bird, who directs the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation’s satellite office in Fargo, North Dakota.

Yellow Bird made four trips to Minneapolis in recent weeks, putting nearly 2,000 miles on her 2017 Chevy Tahoe to help citizens in the Twin Cities who can’t make the long journey to their reservation.

Yellow Bird said she always keeps her tribal ID with her.

“I’m proud of who I am,” she said. “I never thought I would have to carry it for my own safety.”

Some Native Americans say ICE is harassing them

Last year, Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said that several tribal citizens reported being stopped and detained by ICE officers in Arizona and New Mexico. He and other tribal leaders have advised citizens to carry tribal IDs with them at all times.

Last November, Elaine Miles, a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon and an actress known for her roles in “Northern Exposure” and “The Last of Us,” said she was stopped by ICE officers in Washington state who told her that her tribal ID looked fake.

The Oglala Sioux Tribe this week banned ICE from its reservation in southwestern South Dakota and northwestern Nebraska, one of the largest in the country.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North and South Dakota said a member was detained in Minnesota last weekend. And Peter Yazzie, who is Navajo, said he was arrested and held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Phoenix for several hours last week.

Yazzie, a construction worker from nearby Chinle, Arizona, said he was sitting in his car at a gas station preparing for a day of work when he saw ICE officers arrest some Latino men. The officers soon turned their attention to Yazzie, pushed him to the ground, and searched his vehicle, he said.

He said he told them where to find his driver’s license, birth certificate, and a federal Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood. Yazzie said the car he was in is registered to his mother. Officers said the names didn’t match, he said, and he was arrested, taken to a nearby detention center and held for about four hours.

“It’s an ugly feeling. It makes you feel less human. To know that people see your features and think so little of you,” he said.

DHS did not respond to questions about the arrest.

Mantz, the Choctaw Nation citizen, said he runs pest-control operations in Minneapolis neighborhoods where ICE agents are active and he won’t leave home without his tribal identification documents.

Securing them for his children is now a priority.

“It gives me some peace of mind. But at the same time, why do we have to carry these documents?” Mantz said. “Who are you to ask us to prove who we are?”

Brewer reported from Oklahoma City and Peters from Edgewood, New Mexico.

Thousands of products, including Cheerios, Pringles, Heinz Ketchup and Nutella, have been recalled in multiple states over possible contamination from rat and bird waste.

The recall originated from an unsanitary Gold Star Distribution facility, where “rodent excreta, rodent urine and bird droppings” were found, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

“These conditions create a significant risk that products held at the facility may have been contaminated with filth and harmful microorganisms,” reads a recall notice issued by the agency

The affected products also include over-the-counter medication like Advil, Tylenol and Excedrin; beverages such as Gatorade and Arizona Iced Tea; and food items from instant ramen to sauces and seasonings, in addition to several cosmetics, skin care items and pet food products. The full recall list can be found on the FDA’s website.

Anyone exposed to the potentially contaminated products could contract salmonella or leptospirosis, a bacterial disease caused by contact with animal waste. However, no illnesses related to the recall have been reported so far.

According to the FDA, Gold Star distributed the products to stores in three states: Indiana, North Dakota and Minnesota.

Gold Star is asking anyone in those states who purchased any of the products on the list to destroy them immediately. Refunds would be given upon request.

Anthony Edwards didn’t want to jinx it, but he smiled and noted he’s “liking the way” the Timberwolves’ defense looks at the moment.

Minnesota has won three straight following its dismantling of the Thunder on Thursday, with defense leading the charge in all three victories.

That side of the ball has been Minnesota’s Hallmark for the last couple seasons – both of which resulted in Western Conference Finals runs – but the defensive performances this season have been up and down.

Edwards knows the antidote to the inconsistency.

“I think it just starts with me on the defensive end,” he said. “If I’m guarding at a high level, I think everybody’s gonna do it. So I just gotta, you know, make my mind up and choose to do it.”

While this season may mark Edwards’ worst on the defensive end since his rookie campaign, Thursday was another reminder of how high his ceiling is on that end of the floor.

The superstar said there 100% are nights where he decides to take over the game defensively, adding that’s something he wants to do more frequently, while noting “it’s always tough.” Because it does require high levels of energy, which aren’t easy to muster when you’re also your team’s primary offensive producer. But perhaps that end is where energy can be saved.

All eight rotation players scored seven-plus points Thursday. The Wolves have enough collective firepower to fuel the ship without Edwards having to go full inferno mode.

“I think I just gotta lean on my teammates a little bit more on offense and like just trust in them a little bit more,” he said. “And then just give more on the defensive end.”

Edwards tallied two steals and a block Thursday, while Thunder players he was guarding went 1 for 7 from the field.

“As long as he’s doing that,” Jaden McDaniels said, “we’re going to be good defensively.”

Which is Minnesota’s true motor. The Wolves parlayed 15 Thunder turnovers into 30 points the other way. Stops spark transition. Transition lends itself to equal opportunity offense, organically creating scoring chances for the likes of McDaniels, Naz Reid and Donte DiVincenzo.

“It just makes the flow easier. It don’t matter who’s going in transition,” McDaniels said. “We’ll just make the right play. I might have it in transition and I might pass back to Naz and it might be a pass-pass for 3 or just take it yourself. Just being confident and just making the right play.”

Suddenly, everyone around Edwards is catching a rhythm and competing with confidence. When that’s the case, the Wolves are a tough pack with which to run. Even down three rotational pieces Thursday, Oklahoma City is still the NBA’s best defensive team. Yet Minnesota shot 51% from the floor and 47% from distance.

“I think we played a very connected game,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said. “I thought we found the right guy open offensively a lot. I thought we started the game with a lot of really good structure, execute our sets and concepts well. And then when we went to iso for the most part, I thought we were good and finding a kick out and just finding Rudy and those types of things.”

Everybody ate. No heavy lifting was required from any individual, which freed up reserves to expend on the other end and, in turn, elevated Minnesota to the peak of its powers.

Thunder players outside of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had trouble merely dribbling the ball, let alone serving as any type of legitimate scoring threat on a night.

“That’s our defense at its best form,” Finch said. “Really good physicality on the ball, set the tone there. Did a good job at one point with our coverages and execution of those things. It’s certainly like what we’re capable of. And we got to bring that out more, not just wait for the best team in the league to come to town, so that’s a challenge.”

One, specifically, for the team’s best player to take on. For the Timberwolves to be a true championship contender, Edwards does indeed have to dominate every night – it’s just not on the end of the floor everyone suspects.

“We got to be ready to play like we playing the Thunder every night … I think I take a lot of the teams that we play that’s like, not that good, for granted. So it starts with me, for sure,” Edwards said. “I just got to (defend like) that on a night in, night out basis. Like I always say, it’s tough, because I know it’s a lot. But I got to be willing to do it every night.”

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In a shocking move, the Vikings have fired general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, a decision that signals the start of sweeping change for a franchise trying to quickly get back on track following a disappointing campaign.

The plan is for vice president of football operations Rob Brzezinski to lead the Vikings through the 2026 NFL Draft. His experience and expertise should help provide some stability in the short term.

Though there have long been rumors of internal strife surrounding Adofo-Mensah throughout his tenure, there was no indication that the Vikings were going to part ways with him in the present. He sign a contract extension last offseason and was representing the organization this week at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala.

Now the Vikings will move forward looking for a different voice to lead them into the future.

In a statement released by the Vikings on social media, co owners Mark Wilf and Zygi Wilf said after careful consideration over the past few weeks they decided it was time to move forward with new leadership in football operations.

“These decisions are never easy,” the Wilfs said. “We are grateful for Kwesi’s contributions and commitment to the organization over the past four years and wish him and his family the best in the future.”

After the 2026 NFL Draft, the Wilfs said they intend to conduct a thorough search to identify the next general manager. They ended by emphasizing that chasing a Super Bowl fuels them constantly, saying, “We look forward to bring our fans the success they so deserve.”

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