Seeking to address the epidemic of violence against Native Americans, President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order establishing a task force to deal with the issue.

Joined by Attorney General William Barr, members of his administration, and a handful of Native American tribal leaders, Trump said such action “should’ve been done a long time ago” as he signed the order.

Trump’s administration has been putting increased focus on the oft-ignored issue of violence against Native Americans – especially women and children. On Friday, Barr announced a plan to get the federal government more involved.

Native American leaders praised the move but stressed it was only a first step in fighting the problem.

“While there is so much that needs to be done to stop the violence perpetrated on Native women and girls, I appreciate the Administration for taking an important first step in establishing this Task Force,” Shannon Holsey, president of the Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohican Indians, said in response to the order.

The task force Trump established will rope in multiple agencies, led by the Justice Department. Barr’s plan, meanwhile, will be known as the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Person Initiative. It will invest $1.5 million to help the offices of 11 attorneys general to create specialized protocols for the response to and prevention of violence against Native Americans. Barr’s initiative also will enable tribes to seek help directly from the FBI.

“American Indian and Alaska Native people suffer from unacceptable and disproportionately high levels of violence, which can have lasting impacts on families and communities,” Barr said on Friday. “Too many of these families have experienced the loss of loved ones who went missing or were murdered.”

In 2016, only 116 out of the roughly 5,700 Native American women and girls who vanished were reported to the Justice Department. A 2008 study found that these women were 10 times more likely to be killed than the U.S. average.

Native Americans
Native Americans dance as the National Pow Wow gets started Aug.12, 2005 at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C. Representatives from many of America's Native American tribes are in town for the 2005 National Pow Wow, a social gathering of hundreds of Native Americans who follow traditional dances started centuries ago by their ancestors, which continually evolve to include contemporary aspects. Getty Images
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