By David Wiwchar

Warns against travel to the U.S.

Huu-ay-aht issues travel advisory

Feb 3, 2026 | 7:24 AM

The Huu-ay-aht First Nation is advising their citizens to not travel to the United States, given recent reports of Indigenous people being imprisoned by ICE.

Elected Chief Councillor John Jack says members who travel to the US for work or to visit relatives, should carry more than just a status card to prove their citizenship.

“There have been no Huu-ay-aht citizens who have been directly impacted by immigration enforcement in United States,” said Jack. “ICE however, has been having impacts on Indigenous people in the US, therefore we thought it was prudent for us to let our citizens know that they should have all the documentation necessary for them to cruise through such scrutiny given that it is in a heightened environment in the United States at the moment.”

First Nations have the right of free-flow across the border under the Jay Treaty of 1794, recognizing that groups like Nuu-chah-nulth and Coast Salish extend on either side of the imposed border.

Members of the Bamfield-area First Nation live and work on either side of the imposed border, and Jack is recommending they carry a Canadian Passport as well as their status card.

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“Indigenous people are at risk and that appears to be mostly because of what they look like rather than whether or not they are citizens of the United States or Indigenous people of Canada so we believe that having a Canadian passport is providing the insurance necessary to avoid many of the problems that could crop up as a result of that,” he said.

Jack says recent racist developments in the United States are dissappointing but not surprising.