In response to the Seneca Nation’s warning that unclear New York laws are allowing outside drug traffickers to exploit jurisdictional gaps and put the community at risk, the public education advocacy organization Alliance for Quality Education released the following statement:
“Governor Hochul must sign S.8127 / A.8289, which clarifies how law enforcement authority functions on Seneca territory and closes jurisdictional gaps that have put the Nation at risk. These amendments were drafted by the Seneca Nation and passed with unanimous bipartisan support after leaders across Western New York agreed that the solution was both urgently needed and ready to be enacted,” said Marina Marcou-O’Malley and Zakiyah Shaakir-Ansari, Co-Executive Directors of the Alliance for Quality Education.
“No community should be denied protections it should be able to count on, yet New York State has left Seneca families without the clarity and support that should accompany their Nation’s sovereignty. This lack of defined authority has created openings for outside drug traffickers to exploit and has forced Nation citizens to shoulder the consequences of a legal framework shaped by generations of discrimination. Several deaths in a nation of 8,500 people reveal the scale of this crisis and how urgently the state must act.
“The Seneca Nation has already put forward a clear, community-grounded solution that respects its sovereignty and allows for real coordination with county sheriffs, and the plan has earned unanimous support from the State Legislature and sheriffs across Western New York. New York State cannot claim a commitment to equity while its own statutory confusion continues to put an entire Nation at risk. AQE stands with the Seneca Nation in urging Governor Hochul to sign its amendments to Section 8 of New York Indian Law and affirm that justice in all Native communities is inseparable from the just future New York says it seeks to build statewide.”