Presidential candidate and former Obama Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro released a comprehensive platform on Indigenous issues, the first detailed plan from a 2020 campaign.

Castro will follow up on that announcement with a meet-and-greet on Meskwaki Settlement in Iowa Friday where he will discuss his blueprint for Indigenous communities and vision for the future of our nation.

“For generations, Indigenous communities have been treated as second-class citizens rather than sovereign tribal nations free to determine their future,” Castro said. “The federal government has repeatedly failed to honor treaty obligations, respect unique government-to-government relationships, and allowed corporations to exploit sacred land for their own profits. I’m proud to release my People First Indigenous Communities platform to establish a blueprint for ensuring all Native people and communities can thrive in the years ahead.”

The campaign said the People First Indigenous Communities platform builds on a “suite of platforms released on immigration, education, housing, lead exposure, and policing reform—all of which have received wide acclaim by policy experts, advocates, journalists, and voters.”

“This history has contributed to greater disparity, greater injustice, and in some cases, intolerable conditions in Indigenous communities. Native families are more likely to live in poverty, and often lack access to quality health care, affordable and safe housing, education, internet access, and economic opportunity. Indigenous women are more likely to experience violence, and more likely to never receive justice. Additionally, extractive industries reap the benefits of Indigenous land often without permission, while these communities disproportionately feel the effects of a changing climate.”

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