Each year, thousands of people go missing nationwide whose cases fall outside the criteria for law enforcement to sound the alarm, but a new bipartisan bill would create a unique alert system in Arizona, specifically for missing tribal members.

Arizona House Bill 2281 would establish an alert system used in instances when an Indigenous person has gone missing amid unexplained or suspicious circumstances.

“If they’re from Utah or New Mexico or human trafficking, they will travel through the Navajo Nation,” said state Democratic Rep. Mae Peshlakai, who is Diné and a bill co-sponsor, “and if everybody is aware of the alert system, then they will get busted.”

Run by the Arizona Department of Public Safety, this system would be similar to the Amber Alert for children and Silver Alert for seniors. Last week, Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis of the Gila River Indian Community urged support during the annual Indian Nations and Tribes Legislative Day.