Kansas Tribe Looks to Cancel ICE Deal After Backlash

By Joe Morey

Rez Life Weekly Editor

The Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation of Kansas is moving to cancel a nearly $30 million federal contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement following intense backlash from Native communities across the country, according to a December 15 Newsweek article that first brought widespread attention to the deal.

The contract, signed in October by KPB Services LLC, a newly formed tribal entity, was awarded by ICE to develop early design concepts and conduct due diligence for immigrant processing and detention centers throughout the United States. As reported by Newsweek, the agreement initially carried a value of $19 million before being modified to raise the payment ceiling to $29.9 million, just under the $30 million threshold that would require additional federal justification for a sole-source contract.

According to the Newsweek article, KPB Services LLC was registered in April by Ernest Woodward, executive vice president of Prairie Band LLC. Woodward, a member of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, has described himself as a longtime adviser to tribal governments through his consulting firm, Burton Woodward Partners LLC. The contract was listed in the federal government’s real-time contracting database as covering unspecified feasibility studies and concept designs for detention facilities.

The revelation of the contract sparked immediate and widespread criticism, particularly from Native Americans who pointed to the painful historical parallels between modern detention centers and the forced confinement of Indigenous peoples.

Newsweek reported that critics argued the deal was especially troubling given the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation’s own history of removal from the Great Lakes region and confinement to reservations, which many view as the federal government’s earliest detention camps.

The controversy unfolded amid broader national debates over immigration enforcement under President Donald Trump’s renewed mass deportation policies. As noted in the Newsweek coverage, some Native Americans have recently been caught up in immigration raids and detentions, further fueling anger over the tribe’s involvement in ICE-related work.

In response to the backlash, the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation took swift action. According to Newsweek, the tribe announced earlier this week that it had terminated senior members of Prairie Band LLC’s leadership. Chairman Joseph “Zeke” Rupnick addressed tribal members in a video message, acknowledging that the contract had caused “concern, frustration and confusion” within the community and pledging full transparency as the situation unfolds.

Rupnick also drew a direct connection between the ICE contract and the historical trauma endured by Native peoples. “We know our Indian reservations were the government’s first attempts at detention centers,” he said, according to Newsweek. “We were placed here because we were treated as prisoners of war. So we must ask ourselves why we would ever participate in something that mirrors the harm and trauma once done to our people?”

As reported by Newsweek, Rupnick emphasized that while tribes often work with the federal government out of economic necessity, this situation crossed a moral line. He compared the dilemma to his own experience as a military veteran, noting that unlike military service, where orders must be followed, tribal enterprises retain the right to walk away. “Our values must guide us first,” he said, even if doing so could result in fewer government contracts in the future.

In a joint statement cited by Newsweek, the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation and Prairie Band LLC acknowledged the concerns raised by tribal members and the broader Native community. The statement said that while the contract involved technical assessments and feasibility studies, it ultimately did not align with the tribe’s values as a sovereign nation.

The backlash has also been deeply personal for many tribal citizens. Newsweek reported that Ray Rice, a 74-year-old Prairie Band Potawatomi member, said he and others were blindsided by the agreement. “We are known across the nation now as traitors and treasonous to another race of people,” Rice told the Associated Press, reflecting the depth of the community’s distress.

According to the Newsweek article, the tribe is now actively working with legal counsel to terminate the contract, a process Chairman Rupnick said is ongoing. While the final outcome remains uncertain, tribal leadership has stated publicly that exiting the agreement is a priority and that members will be kept informed every step of the way.