The National Indian Gaming Commission has concluded than an Oklahoma Indian tribe can’t legally operate a casino on trust land it owns between Deming and Las Cruces — a decision Gov. Bill Richardson is applauding.
“This federal decision is clear and unambiguous – and it is a victory for the people of New Mexico, who are opposed to an expansion of gaming beyond what has already been negotiated,” Richardson said in a news release. “The Fort Sill Apaches will violate federal law if they move forward with an illegal casino in southern New Mexico. I have directed the state police and the Gaming Control Board to remain vigilant and block access if they attempt to open a casino.”
The Fort Sill Apache Tribe planned earlier this year to open a bingo parlor on land near Akela Flats that was taken into federal trust in 2002 with the condition that it not be used for gaming. Though the tribe said it now meets the requirements for an off-reservation casino exemption, Richardson disagreed and ordered the state police to block public access to the facility in February. At the time, the gaming commission wrote a letter to the tribe stating that it should not open the casino because it had preliminarily concluded that gaming would not be allowed on the land.
This week, the commission made that decision final.
Richardson was backed by both of New Mexico’s U.S. senators and the state attorney general when he fought the opening of the bingo parlor earlier this year. On Tuesday, the commission agreed with the governor’s assertion that the tribe failed to meet any exception that would allow it to operate a gaming facility on the land.
When the land was taken into federal trust for the tribe in June 2002, it was done with the explicit condition that it was not to be used for gaming purposes. Former Gov. Gary Johnson objected at the time to the tribe’s effort to use the land for gaming, and the tribe promised that it would never use the land for gaming.
