Documentary follows Native lawyer’s fight against ICE in Minnesota
The Al Jazeera film tracks Chase Iron Eyes as protests over Renee Good’s killing turn into legal action against federal agencies.
By Sofia Marchetti · World Affairs Correspondent
2 min read
Al Jazeera has released a 25-minute documentary following Chase Iron Eyes, a Native American lawyer who joins protests in Minneapolis after Renee Good’s killing by ICE. The film matters because it portrays a local street response becoming a legal campaign against federal immigration authorities.
According to Al Jazeera, Iron Eyes is a resident of the Pine Ridge reservation whose work as a lawyer is shaped by the history of Native American resistance. The documentary shows him going to Minneapolis after Good’s death and confronting the federal immigration crackdown there.
The film, titled “Native Americans Resisting ICE,” was made by Joi Lee and Ed Ou and published by Al Jazeera on July 5, 2026. It is part of the network’s Witness strand and runs 25 minutes.
From protests to legal action
Al Jazeera says the events unfold as 3,000 federal agents are sent to the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area under Operation Metro Surge. The documentary presents Iron Eyes as seeing the effects of that deployment firsthand while protests take place in the streets.
The film says ICE begins targeting Native Americans in Minnesota during the crackdown. In response, Al Jazeera reports, Iron Eyes works to shift resistance from street demonstrations into court.
Alongside other human rights lawyers, Iron Eyes brings a legal challenge and pursues class-action lawsuits against ICE and the Department of Homeland Security, according to the documentary. Al Jazeera does not provide further details in its description about the claims in those lawsuits or the status of the cases.
The documentary frames Iron Eyes’s work through both the immediate events in Minnesota and a broader Native American history of resistance. Al Jazeera describes him as a lawyer whose personal and professional life is linked to that inheritance.
Lee and Ou’s film focuses on how Native activists and lawyers respond when federal immigration enforcement reaches Native communities, according to Al Jazeera. Its account centers on Iron Eyes as he moves between protest sites and legal strategy following Good’s killing.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.