Tohono O’odham Chairman Verlon M. Jose vows to continue fighting after a federal judge turned down the tribe’s efforts to stop construction of the U.S.-Mexico border wall in Arizona. Jose says O’odham’s heritage, cultural sites, and natural environment are too important to allow unimpeded destruction at the hands of construction crews. At the same time, the Trump administration halted wall construction in Big Bend National Park in Texas after a group filed a lawsuit on religious grounds on behalf of the state-recognized Lipan Apache Tribe. We’ll hear about efforts to halt or slow construction that is going forward without regard for environmental, cultural or spiritual protections.
We’ll also get an update on the lack of progress in filling the vacancy at the top of the National Indian Gaming Commission. President Donald Trump has yet to name a new chairman to the regulatory agency. The position has been vacant since January. Without a chairman, casinos cannot move ahead with several basic operations, potentially costing them millions of dollars.
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