Three Native American tribes and five students have filed a lawsuit claiming the Trump administration failed to meet its legal responsibilities to tribal nations when it cut jobs at Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) schools.
The lawsuit, filed on Friday, asserts that job cuts at two colleges, as part of broader reductions in federal agencies and with the involvement of Elon Musk, have led to unsafe conditions, canceled classes, and delayed financial aid for students and staff.
Represented by lawyers from the Native American Rights Fund, the lawsuit was filed in federal court in Washington, D.C. against the leaders of the Interior Department, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Office of Indian Education Programs. The tribes involved—Pueblo of Isleta, Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, and Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes—argue that they were not consulted before the federal government laid off several employees at the two BIE-managed colleges.
In February, nearly 25% of the staff at Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI) in Albuquerque, New Mexico, including nine instructors, were either fired or forced to resign. The lawsuit claims that the layoffs of security and maintenance staff have made the campus unsafe. It highlights two recent power outages that went unresolved due to the insufficient number of staff to address the issues.
One student from SIPI, Kaiya Brown, shared in the lawsuit that her dormitory was without power for 13 hours. As a result, she was forced to leave her dorm and drive to another location in order to complete her school assignments.
At Haskell Indian Nations University in Kansas, more than 25% of the staff was laid off, including the Dean of Students, instructors, property management specialists, coaches, tutors, residential advisors, academic advisors, custodians, food service employees, and the university’s only bus driver. The lawsuit also mentions that Haskell’s student center has been closed, and students have reported delays or non-disbursement of their financial aid.
Students have reported several issues, including smaller meal portions, bathrooms without toilet paper, and classes now being taught by deans who lack the specialized knowledge of the professors who were let go.
Both Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute and Haskell Indian Nations University have rehired some staff and faculty, but the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) informed them that their positions could be temporary and they might be laid off again, according to the lawsuit.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) stated that it is department policy not to comment on pending litigation, and a spokesperson for the Interior Department also declined to provide any comment.
The BIE is tasked with ensuring educational opportunities for Native Americans and Alaska Natives nationwide, fulfilling part of the U.S. government’s trust responsibilities—its legal and moral duty to honor treaties, laws, and congressional acts concerning tribes.
According to the BIE’s website, there are 183 bureau-funded elementary and secondary schools across 64 reservations in 23 states, serving approximately 42,000 Indian students. Of these, 55 are BIE-operated, and 128 are tribally operated.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office has pointed out for several years that the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) is significantly understaffed, which has hindered its ability to properly monitor and support schools.
Hershel Gorham, lieutenant governor of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, which has 35 students at Haskell, emphasized that one of the U.S. government’s obligations to tribal nations is to engage in meaningful consultation before taking any action that could negatively impact tribes or their services. He argued that in this case, no consultation was conducted by the BIA, BIE, or the federal government as a whole.
Gorham noted that recent cuts to the Departments of the Interior and Health and Human Services, which affected tribal citizens but were later reversed, may indicate that the secretaries of those departments, Doug Burgum and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., recognize these trust responsibilities. However, Gorham suggested these actions could also show that the officials do not have the necessary autonomy to prevent violations of Native Americans’ rights, pointing to the cuts made at Haskell, SIPI, and other BIE schools as evidence.