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Feds warn First Nations people to carry passport when crossing U.S. border
The federal government urges First Nations to carry passports with status cards due to discretionary U.S. acceptance and nearly 150 Canadians held by ICE in 2025.
- The Government of Canada updated its online guidance this week, urging First Nations people to carry a passport in addition to a status card when crossing the Canada–U.S. border, The Canadian Press reported Feb. 20, 2026.
- As of Thursday, the government website clarified acceptance of status cards is "entirely at the discretion of U.S. officials," and Indigenous Services Canada said last month it can issue emergency cards after reports of confiscation or damage.
- ICE detained three Oglala Sioux Tribe members earlier this year, and data show nearly 150 Canadians held in ICE custody in 2025, including two toddlers.
- Local communities say the guidance could complicate daily cross-border routines, impacting residents of Northwest Angle, Minn., who cross with Manitoba daily, while Six Nations of the Grand River and Garden River First Nation issued warnings.
- The Jay Treaty Alliance advises travellers to carry lineage letters, long-form birth certificates, government photo ID, and secure status cards issued since 2009 with machine-readable fields since February 2019.
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31 Articles
31 Articles
Canadian Government Warns First Nations People to Carry Passports When Crossing Into US
Ottawa has updated its travel recommendations for the United States, advising all First Nations people to carry both a passport and a status card when crossing the border. First Nations people in the past could “freely” cross into the United States for employment, study, retirement, investing, or immigration with a status card, but the federal government is now warning that may no longer be enough to guarantee entry. The government’s travel advi…
·New York, United States
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Ottawa urges them to have a passport in addition to their status card when crossing the land border.
·Montreal, Canada
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources31
Leaning Left19Leaning Right1Center6Last UpdatedBias Distribution73% Left
Bias Distribution
- 73% of the sources lean Left
73% Left
L 73%
C 23%
Factuality
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