U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Steve Daines (R-MT) have introduced legislation to end blood quantum rule for tribal communities.
The bipartisan Tribal Border Crossing Parity Act would eliminate the 50% blood quantum requirement for members of federally recognized tribes in order to move freely between the U.S. and Canada.
For over 70 years, federally-recognized tribes near the Canada border have been required to carry proof, obtained through the Department of the Interior (DOI), that they are at least 50% Native American when exercising their right to freely cross between the U.S. and Canada.
The bipartisan legislation would eliminate the outdated 50% blood quantum requirement and allow tribal members to solely show their tribal ID to cross the U.S.-Canada border, ending the lengthy process of gathering information to secure a DOI blood quantum certificate and eliminating confusion for Customs and Border Protection and Canadian border authorities.
Gillibrand and Daines said that obtaining a certificate to prove an individual’s Native American heritage through DOI can often be extremely challenging and complicated for tribal members. The process to obtain a certificate requires information and records many tribal members may not have, especially those whose ancestors were displaced. They said the blood quantum requirement also violates tribal sovereignty by interfering with a tribe’s right to determine its membership.
Bipartisan companion legislation has also been filed in the House.
The bill is supported by the St. Regis-Mohawk Tribe of New York, the Jay Treaty Border Alliance, the National Congress of American Indians, and the National Council of Urban Indian Health.
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