New Tigua Ordinance
clear — some people are welcome on their land, and others are not. the dispute is seventeen years old! the state of texas saying the tribe doesn’t have the right to gamble — the tribe disagrees. abc-7’s darren hunt is in the lower valley tonight. he’s standing by live with what he’s learned. rick and estela, this is the ordinance we are talking about … we just got a copy of it yesterday. this month, the tribal council passed an ordinance saying people who work for the government — specifically law enforcement — and even media, must get permission before setting foot on the reservation. if someone does not get permission, they could face a fine of up to two thousand dollars. last month, a federal judge told the tribe they had to take their gaming machines out within 60 days and the deadline is getting closer. the tribe has argued the state went into their property to gather evidence against them, and the tribal governor admitted this is a way to keep state agents from operating without their knowledge: “it’s always been a practice. iuring the court hearings and the decisions that the judge made, we realized and she made us realize, that if it’s not in writing and we don’t inform the public it doesn’t exist. so we went ahead and prodeeded forward and put it in writing and we’re notifying everybody about the process that’s been in place for a long time.” i asked the a-g’s office what they thought about this rule, but they had no comment because of the lawsuit. the el paso sheriff’s office also got the letter yesterday and the county attorney is reviewing it. a law professor at the university of arizona, who has 20 years of experience in indian affairs told me it’s normal for tribes to exercise their sovereignty this way. thank you, darren. under judge kathleen cardone’s ruling the tiguas have until the end of july to remove their machines or face fines of 100- thousand dollars a day. it’s not clear how enforcement would happen given this new tigua ordinance. we’ll keep following the case. the proposed budget of the newly
