Gallego and Kelly demand answers over planned closure of Phoenix BIA office

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U.S. Sen. Ruben Gallego and U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly. Photos by Gage Skidmore | Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0

Concerns are growing about President Donald Trump’s planned closure of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Phoenix. 

Arizona U.S. Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego sent a letter to the General Services Administration expressing their concern about the intended closure, urging them to reconsider this decision and provide clarity.

The BIA office in Phoenix is located on Central Avenue south of Thomas Road. It serves 53 tribes in the western region, including 20 from Arizona. The office’s planned lease termination date is Aug. 31. 

“Its closure will severely limit access for all of these tribes to essential services ranging from economic development to child social services to water system improvements,” the senators wrote in their letter.

“It is unclear how Phoenix’s Western Regional office was selected for closure and whether the repercussions of this decision have been fully considered,” they wrote. 

The BIA works with tribal governments and tribal members across the country through the administration of a variety of programs and services, including employment and job training assistance, social services, natural resources management on trust lands, agriculture and economic development, law enforcement and detention services and the administration of tribal courts, implementation of land and water claim settlements. 

Other BIA office spaces in Arizona that are set to close include a law enforcement office in Fredonia and an airport terminal building in Show Low.

As part of the senators’ letter, they asked the GSA to answer several questions to justify their decision to close the offices and requesting a response by March 21. 

A few of those questions include how they plan on ensuring that the BIA continues to provide services to tribes and if they took into account the federal government’s trust responsibilities to tribes when making this decision.

“We are very concerned that this office closure is the latest in a long string of arbitrary attacks on the fundamental functions of the federal government,” they wrote. “The federal government is at serious risk of failing at its most basic obligations, including breaking long-held promises to tribes.”

This post was originally authored and published by Shondiin Silversmith from AZ Mirror via RSS Feed. Join today to get your news feed on Nationwide Report®.