MENDOCINO CO., 11/28/25 – California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Wednesday his support for the Tribal Warrant Fairness Act, a bill in Congress that would allow Native American tribes to request assistance from federal law enforcement to find missing children and dangerous fugitives.
He joins 39 attorneys general across the country in supporting the TWFA.
The bill was introduced by U.S. Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nevada, and Markwayne Mullin, R-Oklahoma, to the Senate in October.
According to Cortez Masto, federal law does not allow tribal law enforcement agencies to request support from the U.S. Marshals Service, like state and local agencies can, to aid in criminal investigations.
This restriction means tribal communities, which suffer from disproportionate rates of violence, especially against women and children, are limited on the assistance they can receive to address crime, including finding fugitives and missing people.
It’s one step Congress is taking to address the national crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People, Cortez Masto said.
“For too long, Tribal Nations have borne the brunt of violence, historical harms, and ongoing barriers when seeking answers, justice, and safety,” said Bonta in a statement. “In order to alleviate this crisis, we need to not only listen, but to push forward meaningful structural change.”
If you want to effectively fight organized crime in Round Valley you will need more than a couple deputies and Tribal Police to do it. You will need the law enforcement resources of the Federal government to help out. Hopefully this is a positive step forward in being able to do that. But it is only a beginning. So much more to do. Don’t count on AG Ron Bonta doing any more than giving speech. Politics is his thing, not crime. Meanwhile, local law enforcement should be working on this. Working it very hard.