Victims’ advocate and attorney Darlene Gomez comforts the sister of Johnathan Wacondo after she gave an impassioned speech as part of a MMIP demonstration addressing attendees walking into the UNM School of Law for a speech given by U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland on the evening of Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022. (Photo by Shelby Wyatt for Source NM)
Among Native American communities, people go missing and experience violence at disproportionately high rates .
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland (Laguna) – the first Native cabinet secretary – has been working to implement the Not Invisible Act , which she helped pass as a Congresswoman in 2019.
A commission traveled round the country hearing testimony from survivors, advocates, law enforcement and tribal leaders. It released a list of recommendations last November, and now the Departments of Justice and Interior have responded .
Darlene Gomez is an attorney who represents families of missing and murdered Indigenous people. She welcomed the commission’s report.