WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyoming, asked the FBI in writing Monday for information about crimes on tribal lands, with an emphasis on drug cartels that she says are exploiting Native Americans.
Hageman serves on the House Judiciary Committee, which sent the Dec. 1 letter to FBI Director Kash Patel seeking answers.
The letter was signed by Hageman and U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, the judiciary panel’s chairman.
“The complex jurisdictional authority for tribes to prosecute certain criminal offenses on reservations and the shortage of tribal law enforcement officers make Indian reservations prime locations for dangerous cartel operations,” Hageman and Jordan wrote.
“Criminal aliens who illegally entered the country under the Biden-Harris administration work alongside dangerous cartels to smuggle drugs, including fentanyl and methamphetamine, and perpetuate an opioid epidemic and violent crime in Native American communities,” the letter says.
The House Judiciary Committee has oversight jurisdiction of federal law enforcement agencies such as the FBI.
Hageman and Jordan asked for statistics on crimes in Indian Country during the Biden administration, as well as time periods this year when the FBI under Patel stepped up enforcement.
Legislation Possible
The Hageman-Jordan letter, obtained by Cowboy State Daily, does not mention any specific tribe or reservation.
Asked about the scope of the drug cartel problem on tribal lands, Hageman told Cowboy State Daily via email: “Our oversight, partnered with the strong work of the Trump administration, aims to ensure the federal government prioritizes public safety in Indian Country, supplies adequate resources, closes jurisdictional loopholes, and holds cartel operatives accountable wherever they strike.”
She added that the effort involves "clear data, increased personnel, and transparent partnership with the FBI to restore safety and justice for Native Americans living on reservations.”
Russell Dye, a spokesman for Jordan, told Cowboy State Daily that the Judiciary Committee’s oversight might lead to legislation.
“The problem grew exponentially because of the Biden border crisis, and hopefully our oversight will … help us consider any legislative reforms to stop it,” Dye said via email.
Vulnerable To Cartels
During the Biden years, according to the lawmakers’ letter, “8 million illegal aliens entered the country, including at least 6 million illegal aliens who were released into American communities and nearly 2 million illegal alien ‘gotaways’ who evaded U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the southwest border.”
The letter claims that tribal members are vulnerable to carry out the bidding of drug cartels.]
“In Indian Country, cartel operatives recruit and take advantage of vulnerable tribal members — those facing unemployment, addiction, or financial strain — and offer these individuals quick cash to transport or distribute narcotics,” the letter reads.
“Over time, drugs take hold in the community as addiction spreads,” it continues. "Violence often follows. When someone reports drug cartel activity to the tribal police or refuses to cooperate with the cartels’ demands, the cartel responds with threats, intimidation, and violence to maintain control.”
These cartels and the drugs they traffic destroy Native American tribes, Hageman and Jordan say.
“The effects on the community include more overdoses, more missing persons, rising fear, and resources stretched thin,” the letter says. “Meanwhile, jurisdictional limitations — tribal law enforcement can only prosecute tribal members and state/local law enforcement often lack authority on reservation land — leave tribal communities vulnerable to rapid cartel infiltration and little proactive federal assistance.
"The cartels exploit these vulnerabilities intentionally, leaving tribal communities to bear the consequences.”
Letter Follows Patel Testimony
The letter follows up on testimony Patel gave to the House Judiciary Committee in September.
Patel discussed the Justice Department’s Operation Not Forgotten, which ran from April to October this year and looked into 1,900 open criminal cases on tribal lands.
In Sept. 17 testimony to the committee, Patel said the FBI had ramped up personnel and had issued 600 indictments in connection with those cases.
The letter from Hageman and Jordan seeks more information on Operation Not Forgotten as well as the FBI’s budget allocations generally for fighting crime on tribal lands.
The letter also asks for an inventory on “case openings and case resolutions” that spanned the Biden administration.
“Cartels and transnational drug traffickers exploited the Biden administration's broken border and immigration policies to flood tribal lands with illegal drugs and violence,” Hageman told Cowboy State Daily.
“Tribal law enforcement faces resource and jurisdiction challenges which too often leave cartels free to operate with near impunity,” she said.
Sean Barry can be reached at sean@cowboystatedaily.com.
