The El Paso Times interviews Carlos Hisa, the lieutenant governor of the Tigua Tribe, about a bill to restore the tribe's gaming rights in Texas.

"Times: Are you worried that, given the economic conditions, you might get permission to open the casino but be unable to make a profit?

Hisa: We have not made much of a profit in the last couple of years, but we've been able provide some employment for our people and been able to provide some services and programs that our people are in need of.

If gaming were to come back, it's not about getting rich. It's about being able to use those funds to provide for our community - whether it's employment, insurance, education, housing, healthcare _ that's our goal.

It's the difference between other casinos owned by individuals, where they're out there to make profits. We're out there to get money, of course, but put it back into the community. It's a great opportunity.

Times: What are the most immediate needs the tribe would address with gaming revenue?

Hisa: Some of our programs are struggling, some of our programs are underfunded. That would be our priority, to come and to bring those programs up to par.

Our healthcare, for example, we had every tribal member and their family, non-tribal spouses, everybody, insured. We paid the premiums; healthcare was covered.

Diabetes is big a factor in Indian country and in our pueblo. Those are the programs that we need to look at.

Employment is huge, especially with the economy. The amt of opportunity that is out there in El Paso isn't there, and we don't want our tribal members to leave El Paso because they can't find a job.

There's housing needs that we need to meet. We did implement a program through funding to go out there and build homes. It's on the way, but then we still have other homes we need to go out there and take a look at for our elderly, for starting families.

The homes we're building right now are for low-income We want our community to come back to El Paso, but we need to try to accommodate everybody, so that they can return."

Get the Story:
Tigua official says work still needed in push for casino (The El Paso Times 2/23)