Latest news with #AngelCharley
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
New Mexico set to create ‘Turquoise Alert' system for missing Indigenous people
From left, Sen. Angel Charley, D-Acoma, and Rep. Michelle Paulene Abeyta, D-To'hajiilee, prepare to introduce Senate Bill 41, creating a Turquoise Alert system, on Feb. 7, 2025. (Bella Davis/New Mexico In Depth) New Mexico is set to become the fourth state to create an alert system meant to help find Native Americans who have gone missing. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham plans to sign Senate Bill 41 into law, establishing a Turquoise Alert system, according to her office, after the bill passed both chambers of the Legislature unanimously. Operating much like the state's Amber Alert system for abducted children, Turquoise Alerts would be issued for people who are enrolled in or eligible for enrollment in a federally or state-recognized tribe and are missing under unexplained or suspicious circumstances or are at heightened risk due to health concerns or disabilities. Colorado, California and Washington have established similar alerts. Since Washington's system was created in 2022, 114 alerts had gone out as of August last year, and 111 of those people were located, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported. This story was originally published by New Mexico In Depth Lawmakers in New Mexico have passed a couple other bills in recent years responding to a national crisis of Indigenous people disproportionately going missing and being killed. There are 186 Indigenous people missing from the state, according to the state Department of Justice, and the average number of days missing is 1,662, or about four and a half years. The alert is especially needed on reservations, where jurisdictional confusion and understaffed law enforcement agencies are major obstacles to public safety, said Rep. Michelle Paulene Abeyta (Diné), a Democrat from To'hajiilee and one of the bill's sponsors. 'When someone goes missing, we're combining our own resources outside of law enforcement and any actual government-run entity to try to locate our missing loved ones,' Abeyta said Monday in an interview. 'We know how important this is and how the lack of resources just isn't fair for us and the jurisdictional issues that get in the way. It's not right.' In the '90s, when she was a child, Abeyta's mother went missing. She was taken to a remote area and 'beaten and left to die,' Abeyta said, before being found a few days later by a person who happened to be in the area. She was brought to a hospital and survived, but her recovery was difficult. Abeyta and her co-sponsor Sen. Angel Charley (Laguna/Zuni/Diné), D-Acoma, are 'excited to see how this is going to help improve the lives of so many families that for a long time needed some type of solution, some type of resource to go to,' Abeyta said. While helping solve logistical barriers, the alert system would also raise awareness about the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people, Charley said in an interview Friday. Charley, who used to be the executive director of the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women, referenced Ashlynne Mike, an 11-year-old Diné girl who was kidnapped and murdered in northwestern New Mexico, on the Navajo Nation, in 2016. Law enforcement didn't issue an Amber Alert until the day after she went missing due to 'misunderstandings and jurisdictional hurdles,' according to the Justice Department. 'You never know if coordination would have happened in a way that was quick and efficient' if there had been greater awareness at the time, Charley said. After lawmakers passed the bill last week, Ashlynne's father contacted Charley, telling her he was going to write to Lujan Grisham and urge her to sign it. 'We do not want other families to go through the trauma we felt,' he wrote in a message Charley shared with New Mexico In Depth with his permission. Indigenous advocates, tribal leaders and police, and lobbyists representing several pueblos also spoke in support of the bill during the session. The bill requires the Department of Public Safety to develop a plan for getting alerts out as quickly as possible and keeping records on each alert, with information including the municipality where the missing person report was made, the date the alert was issued and the date the missing person is recovered. 'Too many Native American families have faced crisis and the heartbreak of a loved one disappearing without the swift response they deserve,' Indian Affairs Secretary Josett Monette, whose agency developed the bill, said in a statement. 'The Turquoise Alert system is a critical step forward in ensuring that missing Native American people are prioritized in the same way as other emergency alerts.' The alert aligns with a state response plan issued by a task force in 2022, Monette told lawmakers last month. That now-defunct task force discussed an alert system for missing Indigenous people, said Darlene Gomez, a task force member and attorney who represents affected families. Gomez suggested that New Mexico should create such an alert during public comment at a December meeting of a new state task force focused on the crisis.
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
New Mexico bill would provide 'turquoise' safety alert when Native Americans go missing
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A bill that would create a 'turquoise' safety alert system for missing Native American people in New Mexico has been endorsed by the Legislature. A vote of the state Senate without opposition Thursday sent the rapid response initiative to New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who supports the proposal. The bill responds to a troubling number of disappearances and killings in Indian Country — and would allow law enforcement to quickly share information about Native Americans who go missing. The 'turquoise alert' system — taking its name from the blue-green mineral — would function much like existing 'amber' and 'silver' alerts that highlight the disappearance of children and the elderly. Cellphone alerts would be issued when law enforcement finds evidence of imminent danger in the disappearance of a Native American. 'I carry with me countless stories of how our system has failed to respond to the disappearance or murder of Native people in our state,' said Democratic state Sen. Angel Charley of Acoma Pueblo, a co-sponsor of the bill. 'We have answered the call.' California, Washington and Colorado have similar alert systems, according to the New Mexico Department of Indian Affairs. Arizona lawmakers are considering their own alert system as the brutal death of San Carlos Apache teenager Emily Pike reverberates through Native American communities. New Mexico has 23 federally recognized tribes, including large portions of the Navajo Nation, as well as land holdings of the Fort Sill Apache. The safety and concerns of those communities were on prominent display during a 60-day legislative session that ends Saturday at noon. A bill signed Wednesday by Lujan Grisham ensures students can wear their own Native American regalia at graduation and other school ceremonies in the spirit of free expression linked to cultural heritage.
Associated Press
21-03-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
New Mexico bill would provide ‘turquoise' safety alert when Native Americans go missing
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A bill that would create a 'turquoise' safety alert system for missing Native American people in New Mexico has been endorsed by the Legislature. A vote of the state Senate without opposition Thursday sent the rapid response initiative to New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who supports the proposal. The bill responds to a troubling number of disappearances and killings in Indian Country — and would allow law enforcement to quickly share information about Native Americans who go missing. The 'turquoise alert' system — taking its name from the blue-green mineral — would function much like existing 'amber' and 'silver' alerts that highlight the disappearance of children and the elderly. Cellphone alerts would be issued when law enforcement finds evidence of imminent danger in the disappearance of a Native American. 'I carry with me countless stories of how our system has failed to respond to the disappearance or murder of Native people in our state,' said Democratic state Sen. Angel Charley of Acoma Pueblo, a co-sponsor of the bill. 'We have answered the call.' California, Washington and Colorado have similar alert systems, according to the New Mexico Department of Indian Affairs. Arizona lawmakers are considering their own alert system as the brutal death of San Carlos Apache teenager Emily Pike reverberates through Native American communities. New Mexico has 23 federally recognized tribes, including large portions of the Navajo Nation, as well as land holdings of the Fort Sill Apache. The safety and concerns of those communities were on prominent display during a 60-day legislative session that ends Saturday at noon. A bill signed Wednesday by Lujan Grisham ensures students can wear their own Native American regalia at graduation and other school ceremonies in the spirit of free expression linked to cultural heritage.
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Turquoise Alert System for missing Indigenous people moves through legislature
SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE) – Lawmakers are pushing legislation to help when an endangered tribal or pueblo member goes missing. The Democratic bill, SB 41, would create a new statewide alert system to notify the public. The 'Turquoise Alert System' would be similar to the Brittany or Silver alerts. The bill has been quickly moving through the 2025 legislative session with overwhelming support. Lawmakers say data shows, on average, more than 200 Indigenous people are missing in New Mexico. Now, a bill aims to address the missing and murdered Indigenous people crisis in the state with a new alert system. Democratic Senator Angel Charley is the lead sponsor of the bill to create the Turquoise Alert. It would send a statewide notification to law enforcement and the public of an endangered person who belongs to a federally recognized Indian nation, tribe, or pueblo. Bill aimed at overhauling CYFD moves forward in the legislature In a previous committee, many supporters urged lawmakers to pass the bill. 'These communities have experienced a radical and rapid rise in missing and murdered individuals for several decades. Creating the Turquoise Alert System will give those communities more resources to slow this epidemic,' said Arturo Castillo with the Conservation Voters New Mexico. 'It's because the lack of speed of awareness that leads to so many cold cases and some families waiting years, even decades for headway in their cases,' said Ryder Jiron with the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women. However, some committee members expressed doubts on how effective it may be when there are already other alert systems in place. 'What is the actual difference? What's going to be the new process that's going to make us solve this problem?' asked Senator Gabriel Ramos (R-Silver City). Wildfire prevention bills make their way through the Roundhouse Senator Charley said the current Amber and Silver alerts are based on age ranges, leaving a big portion of missing Indigenous people out of the statewide alerts, something this bill would address. 'And I understand the concerns are that you may receive way too many alerts, but I think if you keep hearing them, you'll know that there is an issue happening,' said Senator Angel Charley (D-Acoma). In 2022, the state released a response plan aimed at increasing investigations and prosecuting cases of missing Indigenous people. When presenting the bill, the sponsors said the alert system would help aid in these cases. The bill sailed through today's house committee with unanimous approval. It needs to go through one more committee and then the house floor. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
09-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill would create alert system for missing Indigenous people
From right, Rep. Michelle Paulene Abeyta, D-To'hajiilee, and Sen. Angel Charley, D-Acoma, prepare Senate Bill 41, which would create an alert system for missing Indigenous people, on Feb. 7, 2025. (Photo by Bella Davis/New Mexico In Depth) Two state lawmakers are trying to create a 'Turquoise Alert' system in New Mexico for sending out statewide alerts when Indigenous people go missing. Sen. Angel Charley (Laguna Pueblo/Zuni Pueblo/Diné), D-Acoma, and Rep. Michelle Paulene Abeyta (Diné), D-To'hajiilee, are sponsoring Senate Bill 41. 'I've done this advocacy for years,' said Charley, who is a former executive director of the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women. 'So to be on this side and get to implement what we know families have been asking for and what will work, it's just the most powerful thing that I could imagine in my journey of this work.' There are 198 Native Americans missing from New Mexico and the Navajo Nation, according to an FBI list. This story was originally published by New Mexico In Depth and is republished with permission. 'In New Mexico on any given day, we know that there are hundreds of missing Native Americans. We also know that the first 48 hours are crucial to finding someone,' New Mexico Indian Affairs Secretary Josett Monette (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians) told a crowd gathered at the Roundhouse on Friday for American Indian Day. The alert system would 'ensure that those critical hours are not missed,' Monette said, adding it should function similarly to other missing persons advisories, like Amber Alerts. If passed by the Legislature, the bill, which does not include an appropriation, would amend the state Missing Persons Information and Reporting Act to include a Turquoise Alert. The Department of Public Safety would be tasked with developing a plan for getting the alerts out to law enforcement agencies and the public as quickly as possible. At least three other states — Colorado, Washington and California — have passed similar legislation in recent years. Since lawmakers in Washington mandated a system in 2022, the State Patrol had issued 114 alerts as of August last year, and the subjects of 111 of those alerts were located, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported.
