Texas opposes attempt by Tigua Tribe to reopen gaming facility

Friday, December 11, 2015

The Speaking Rock Entertainment Center on the Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo in El Paso, Texas. Photo from Facebook

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The state of Texas has finally broken its silence in a long-running gaming dispute with the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo, also known as the Tigua Tribe.

The state contends the tribe can't offer Class II gaming on its reservation despite approval from the National Indian Gaming Commission. A filing in federal court also disregards a legal opinion issued by Office of the Solicitor at the Interior Department that affirmed the tribe's gaming rights.

"No federal agency interpretation can contradict Congressional intent," Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) wrote in a December 9 brief.

According to Paxton, the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Restoration Act allows the state to sue the tribe for engaging in gaming activities that are deemed to be illegal in Texas. The federal courts cited the law when the tribe was forced to shut down its casino in 2001.

The NIGC and the DOI Solicitor, however, concluded that the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act "impliedly repealed" the provision at issue. IGRA became law in 1988, just a year after the tribe was restored to federal recognition.

The tribe has continued to offer some forms of gaming at the Speaking Rock Entertainment Center on the reservation. The state won a court order requiring the tribe to halt those games but the tribe returned to court after the NIGC approved its Class II gaming ordinance. The approval relied on a September 10 letter from the DOI Solicitor's Office.

The judge in the case invited the NIGC and DOI to file briefs in the case but the Department of Justice declined the offer on Wednesday, the same day the state submitted its response.