Officials with the Mescalero Apache Tribe told state lawmakers on Monday, they’re concerned about the impact of potential cuts to federal law enforcement on the reservation.
The Economic and Rural Development and Policy Committee held its interim hearing in Mescalero.
Duane Duffy, vice president of the Mescalero Apache Tribe, estimates that there could be a 20-to-30% decrease in federal funding for law enforcement based on the proposed budget from the White House. He said this is concerning because the tribe relies completely on federal funding to pay for its law enforcement.
“The federal government just built a brand new detention facility on our reservation, and they're still trying to staff that,” he said. “And you know, the question is, are those federal cuts, are they going to affect whether or not they're going to be able to open that facility? And so they'll have a federal facility sitting there as a shell, vacant until they can fully staff it.”
The tribal nation makes up 463,000 acres, and it relies on six Bureau of Indian Affairs law enforcement officers.
Thora Padilla, President of the Mescalero Apache Tribe said even losing one officer could be detrimental.
“So any kind of cuts are gonna really impact us, and it's difficult to try to stretch those resources over the 24-hour period that we have to protect our people with,” she said.
Trump’s proposed budget would cut over $700 million from the BIA and $239 million from tribal housing programs, according to Tribal Business News.
Duffy said he and Padilla will be having further discussions with both the federal and state delegations to work on filling the gaps from future cuts.
Support for this coverage comes from the Thornburg Foundation.
