Warren Upset Over Stalled Indian Casino Project

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe would like to have a portion of their land taken into trust for purposes of operating a resort casino in Taunton, Massachusetts, but U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young has blocked an Interior Department decision to hold land in trust for the tribe (a condition for building the tribal casino) ruling that the tribe was recognized about 73 years too late to qualify under the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act.

Leading the fight to prevent the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe from building a casino was Rhode Island, Gov. Gina Raimondo (D) and the entire Rhode Island Congressional delegation.

According to indianz.com -

"Rhode Island was behind Carcieri v. Salazar, the disastrous U.S. Supreme Court decision that cast significant doubt on the land-into-trust process. According to the 2009 ruling, only tribes that were 'under federal jurisdiction' as of 1934 can seek to have their homelands placed in trust."

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe did not gain federal recognition until 2007.

Rhode Island successfully fought a ten-year legal battle with the Department to limit the Secretary's power to take land in trust ... only for those tribes under federal jurisdiction as of 1934. The motive behind the legal fight is that the proposed Mashpee Wampanoag casino would be about 20 miles from a new, non-Indian facility that opened in Tiverton, Rhode Island. Rhode Island could lose out on $26.1 million in the first year of the facility's operation and $6.6 million in the following year.

After the Bureau of Indian Affairs admitted defeat in the legal battle, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren blamed it on........you guessed it, Donald Trump.