US government’s removal of critical report leaves Indigenous communities more vulnerable to trafficking

The disappearance of a federally mandated report tracking Indigenous deaths, disappearances, and trafficking vulnerabilities has exposed a deeper setback. The administration has reduced a national crisis to an anti-DEI measure. Claiming that the Executive Order demands it, the Department of Justice removed a congressionally mandated report with vital information, including the need for federal action, from its website. Removing this report makes an already invisible crisis even harder to confront.

A vital report erased under anti-DEI orders

Jezebel reports,

For the past few years, the above page on the Justice Department website was home to the mandated Not One More Report—which recorded indigenous deaths and disappearances across the U.S., and provided tribes with resources and policy suggestions to address the crisis. But, in order to comply with the cursed executive order called ‘Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism And Restoring Biological Truth To The Federal Government’—aka, the anti-DEI initiatives—the Trump administration vanished it in February.

The report was required by the Not Invisible Act, passed with bipartisan support. It compiles federal data, analyzes the root causes of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) crisis, and outlines solutions shaped by tribal input. For many communities, this was the first attempt at a coordinated, national response.

Its removal undermines that effort. Indigenous people experience some of the highest rates of disappearance in the country. In 2020 alone, more than 9,500 Native people were reported missing. Federal agencies often have primary jurisdiction, especially when trafficking or cross-border exploitation is involved. Without the report, families and tribal authorities lose essential information about investigative failures, service gaps, and federal responsibilities.

Weakening protections and increasing risks

The report also included analysis of trafficking risks. Traffickers target Native women, girls, and Two-Spirit people because of jurisdictional complexity, limited local resources, and longstanding underfunding of tribal law enforcement. Many disappearances involve coercion, exploitation, or movement across multiple jurisdictions where accountability collapses. Data on these patterns is crucial for prevention.

The MMIP crisis cannot be separated from trafficking and exploitation. When federal systems fail to track disappearances or deaths, traffickers operate with impunity. Missing persons are often not investigated. Families face delays or outright dismissals. Communities don’t have the data to point to trends, coordinate alerts, and pressure officials for urgent interventions.

Removing the report dismantles a mechanism designed to expose systemic neglect, strengthen trust obligations, and improve investigations for the groups most at risk. It also eliminates a tool tribes use to access resources, prevention programs, and culturally informed services that protect survivors.

Senators Catherine Cortez Masto and Lisa Murkowski have demanded answers, but the DOJ has offered none.

Freedom United is calling for the immediate restoration of the Not One More Report. Add your voice to our campaign urging the administration to reinstate this critical resource and honor its obligations to Indigenous communities.