Tribes urge Congressional action to combat drug crisis in Indian Country

Bellingham, WA—The House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations this week heard testimony from Tribes across the nation about the impacts of the drug crisis in Indian Country. The following statement from Tony Hillaire, chairman of the Lummi Nation, can be quoted in-full or in-part.

“Indian Country has been hard hit by the devastating impacts of the drug epidemic that has inflicted pain and suffering in communities across the U.S. Lummi Nation is losing generations of our relatives to this widespread crisis that has disproportionately hit our Native communities.

In 2023, the Lummi Nation declared a state of emergency to address the fentanyl crisis. We have tackled the problem with all available resources. We built a stabilization center for medication-assisted detox; developed a tiny home complex to provide safe housing for our unhoused relatives; and employed a number of public safety measures including: setting up drug checkpoints, employing drug-sniffing dogs, shutting down known drug houses, and passing laws that remove drug dealers from our territory and deny bail for drug-related crimes. But we cannot do it alone. We need Congress to act.

Our Native communities are already hit hard by chronic underfunding. To adequately combat the influence and impacts of drug cartels in our communities, we need greater funding to employ adequate public safety measures to meet the growing need. One federal report shows that we need $1.4 billion to meet just the basic public safety needs in Indian Country. Strong federal investments mean we have a fighting chance against powerful, illegal drug operations on our lands.

Tribal nations also need the ability to enforce laws on our territory. Drug cartels operate on reservation lands in part because they know that we do not have the jurisdiction to prosecute non-Native American criminals. Congress must pass the PROTECT Act and expand Special Tribal Criminal Jurisdiction to include drug trafficking. Congress passed the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010 to enhance tribes’ ability to prosecute and punish criminals. But this law has suffered in its implementation from lack of funding and technical assistance. We need resources behind this law for it to be effective.

Each day we are losing relatives to addiction and drug-related overdoses. Our relatives, our families, and our friends are suffering at the hands of powerful drug trafficking operations. We need adequate resources and jurisdiction to tackle the issue and arrest and prosecute traffickers who are targeting our communities.”

The post Tribes urge Congressional action to combat drug crisis in Indian Country first appeared on Native Sun News Today.

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