Fighting for Justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous People
by Senator Catherine Cortez Masto
On May 5th, the United States recognizes the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIW). Fighting to end this crisis of violence against Tribal communities has been one of my top priorities during my time in the Senate.
In 2020, President Trump signed two of my bills, Savanna’s Act and the Not Invisible Act into law. Savanna’s Act requires law enforcement to work with tribes to create standardized protocols for responding to MMIW cases and report critical data to Congress. And the Not Invisible Act created a commission of law enforcement, Tribal leaders, and survivors to develop recommendations to combat the MMIW crisis.
That report was completed in 2023, and it contained dozens of recommendations for legislation. I have personally taken guidance from the Not Invisible Act Commission report, introducing my bipartisan Tribal Access to Electronic Evidence Act, which would give Tribal courts the same access to electronic evidence as their non-Tribal counterparts.
Unfortunately, there has been a serious setback in this fight. In its purge of government websites and social media that included words it didn’t agree with, the Trump administration removed the Not Invisible Act Commission report from the Department of Justice website. I will continue to push the administration to make this critical report publicly accessible again.
The MMIW crisis has torn communities apart for far too long. I am committed to ending this epidemic of violence and bringing justice to the victims, on May 5th and every day of the year.
