Thank You JOE DEEGAN for this article. Please send the letter posted previously to Gloria Romero.
Get Out, Stay Out
By Joe Deegan Published Wednesday, July 2, 2008
In February 2007, the Barona Band of Mission Indians sponsored state legislation entitled Unlawful Entry: Tribal Land. San Diego County’s board of supervisors, as well as Sheriff Bill Kolender and District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, signed on to the California State Senate bill as supporters. The bill would give tribal governments a new tool to control their lands by sending suspect persons letters warning them not to trespass. Violators could face a fine of $250 for a first offense and $500 for a second.
But Unlawful Entry’s appearance coincided with turmoil among California Indians over an increasing tendency of gaming tribes to disenroll members. Gloria Romero, the bill’s author, withdrew the measure in June 2007. Romero represents the 24th district of East Los Angeles. She is the senate’s majority leader and chair of its Public Safety Committee. The biography on her senate website states that, among other things, Romero is “a forceful advocate for California’s most disadvantaged citizens.”
The backpedaling could have been a response to an LA Weekly blast earlier in the month. Romero, claimed the paper, “is an eager recipient of campaign contributions from the Pechangas, the Agua Caliente, the Morongo and other powerful gambling tribes.… Her voting record shows that a reliable 75 percent of the time Romero votes for tribal gambling interests.” The article ends with this flourish: “Don’t think for a moment that our Democrats aren’t up in Sacramento tirelessly fighting for the little guys. Yeah, right.”
Is there a danger, asks the legislative analyst, “that ‘gaming tribes’ [could] abuse [Unlawful Entry], if enacted, to banish disenrolled members? Could this bill create the potential that disenrolled members could be fined for necessary acts such as travelling to their homes, seeking medical services at Indian health facilities, and visiting tribal members?”
PLEASE READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE: GET OUT
Family and Friends,
ReplyDeletePlease email, fax or write a letter to your legislature letting them know you do not support this bill as it is written. This bill needs to address terminated indians who live on allotted land or want to visit family on allotted land inside California indian reservations. Send 10-20 letters a day asking them not to pass this bill until they have changed the wording to protect terminated indians throughout Ca.