Landmark MMIP report removed from federal websites as Trump administration targets DEI initiatives 

A critical report created to address the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People in Arizona and across the country has been removed from federal websites as the Trump administration continues to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion materials and policies.

The report, created under the Not Invisible Act, was hailed as a groundbreaking effort to combat violence and systemic challenges Indigenous communities face nationwide. The act was signed into law by President Donald Trump during his first presidency and was the first bill in U.S. history introduced and passed by four congressional members enrolled in federally recognized tribes.

Arizona, which is home to 22 federally recognized tribes, was identified in an early study as having the third highest number of Indigenous women and girls going missing or being murdered in the country. In 2020, a legislative study found that 160 Indigenous women and girls were murdered in Arizona between 1976 and 2018 — a total that steadily increased in those 40 years. Additionally, the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System showed just over 90 Native Americans were reported missing in Arizona as of Friday.

Arizona Luminaria recently launched an MMIP database, where just under 100 women and girls who are missing or were murdered are reflected so far. That data has shown that women ages 19 to 32 accounted for almost half of all the cases and almost half of the people killed were linked to substance abuse and/or intimate partner violence.

When he signed the act in Oct. 2020, Trump touted being the first president to formally recognize the issue of MMIP. He also signed into law Savanna’s Act and, in 2019, issued an executive order establishing the Operation Lady Justice Task Force, both of which aimed to combat the ongoing issue.

More specifically, the act established a commission of tribal leaders, law enforcement and federal partners tasked with developing recommendations to improve public safety for Indigenous people.

“I am so grateful to the members of the Not Invisible Act Commission for the time and effort they have given to this work and this report over the past two years. Indian Country will be safer, and lives will be saved, because of this Commission’s work,” said Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland in a November 2023 statement.

“Everyone deserves to feel safe in their community. Crimes against Indigenous peoples have long been underfunded and ignored, rooted in the deep history of intergenerational trauma that has affected our communities since colonization,” Haaland, who helped lead the effort, continued. “I look forward to reviewing the recommendations, which will help us continue to galvanize attention and resources toward these tragic epidemics.”

In 2023, the commission held a series of public hearings, including in Arizona, to hear directly from communities most affected by MMIP.

“I always say that I’ve never received justice for what happened to my daughter because nothing can bring her back,” Pamela Foster told the commission in Arizona in May according to reporting by Shondiin Silversmith of Arizona Mirror. “There will never be justice, but we can learn how to move forward in changing laws to make things better for our people.”

While a webpage about the act remained active as of Friday, its final report from November 2023 appears to have been taken down and instead displays a “Page not found” message. The report was last captured and archived by the Wayback Machine on Feb. 8.

Its removal aligns with recent directives from Trump to eliminate DEI-related material and policies from the federal government. His administration also recently removed webpages related to the Navajo Code Talkers and other Native American veterans, such as Ira Hayes, a member of the Gila River Indian Community who fought in the Battle of Iwo Jima, and Lori Piestewa, a Hopi woman and the first Native American woman killed in the Iraq War.

“It’s unacceptable and extremely unfortunate that the many vital contributions of Native American soldiers — including Ira Hayes’ bravery during the Battle of Iwo Jima — appeared to have been disregarded by the Department of Defense and other military agencies,” Gila River Indian Community Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis said in a statement calling for every single reference to be restored.

“To be clear, recognizing the patriotism and courage of Native American soldiers has nothing to do with any type of DEI initiative,” he continued. “It’s simply an offering of respect for extraordinary service and bravery in the line of duty.”

Following public outcry, some of the webpages have since been restored.

This article first appeared on AZ Luminaria and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.