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President Donald J. Trump Is Committed to Supporting and Protecting Native American Women and Children Across The Country

Law & Justice

Issued on:

PROTECTING NATIVE AMERICAN WOMEN AND CHILDREN: President Donald J. Trump is committed to protecting Native American women and children from harm.

  • Today’s executive order establishes Operation Lady Justice – an interagency task force charged with developing an aggressive, government-wide strategy to address the crisis of missing and murdered women and girls in American Indian and Alaska Native communities.
  • The task force will establish multi-jurisdictional teams comprising representatives from Tribal and Federal law enforcement to review unsolved cases.
  • In addition, this new task force will promote greater cooperation among Federal, local, state, and Tribal law enforcement agencies in responding to cases.
  • To better equip communities to respond to the crisis, the task force will undertake efforts to increase public awareness of the issue.
  • This executive order also directs the Department of Justice to issue grants to help improve safety in Native American communities.

ADDRESSING THE CRISIS: The Administration is working to address the crisis of missing and murdered women in Native American communities.

  • The heartbreaking crisis of missing and murdered women is especially severe in Native American communities.
  • One study found that Native American women in certain Tribal communities are 10 times more likely to be murdered than the average American.
  • In October, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) awarded over $273.4 million in grants to improve public safety, serve victims of crime, combat violence against women and support youth programs in Native American communities.
  • Earlier this month, DOJ launched a national strategy to address missing and murdered Native Americans.

SUPPORTING TRIBAL COMMUNITIES: Operation Lady Justice is the latest step in the President’s efforts to support our Tribal communities.

  • President Trump became the first president to officially recognize the grave issue of missing and murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives by issuing a “Missing and Murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives Awareness Day” proclamation.
  • In March 2019, President Trump announced the Presidential Task force on Protecting Native American Children in the Indian Health Service System.
    • This task force helps to safeguard Native American children from abuse in the healthcare system.
  • President Trump signed legislation that restored the opportunity to receive promised land allotments to nearly 3,000 Alaska Native veterans who served in Vietnam.
  • To help expand broadband development in Indian country, the Administration held a National Tribal Broadband Summit this past September.
  • This year, President Trump secured an agreement with President Niinistӧ of Finland to repatriate American Indian ancestral remains and funerary objects to the United States.