There are currently 193 Indigenous people listed as missing from New Mexico and the Navajo Nation on the online portal run by the New Mexico Department of Justice.
As an effort to combat this ongoing issue, the department will be hosting its quarterly Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples task force meeting on Friday in Acoma to give updates and allow for the public to weigh in.
Members of the MMIP task force will be joined by law enforcement, grassroots organizations and tribal leadership to give updates on administrative changes and recommendations received by a legislative subcommittee.
Stephanie Padilla (Isleta Pueblo), chairperson for the task force, said it’s important for the public to attend these meetings and make their voices heard.
“Everybody has a different experience with either losing a loved one or searching for a loved one,” she said. “And we want to implement those needs into the state response plan so that our state leaders can review that response plan and implement those changes as best as they can.”
Padilla said public input could also be used for potential legislation.
“When people comment, we as different subcommittees can take those comments and try to figure out how we can work with the senators that sit on our task force to push legislation through that would either help resolve those issues that they're speaking about or fund certain efforts that they want to see happening in the community,” she said.
The meeting will be at the Sky City Cultural Center in Acoma between noon through 4 p.m.
The public can attend in person or online.
If you would like to make a private comment or reach out to the New Mexico Department of Justices’ Missing and Murdered Indigenous People’s taskforce you can reach out to:
Mike Kheine: MKiehne@nmdoj.gov
Danica Cotov: DCotov@nmdoj.gov
Stephanie Padilla: stephanie.padilla@isletapueblo.com
Support for this coverage comes from the Thornburg Foundation.
