The U.S. Senate has passed a bill that would restore some tribal lands in San Diego County.
The bill would put 172 acres owned by the Jamul Indian Village of California, a federally recognized tribe, into trust. Putting land into trust makes the tribe eligible for certain federal programs and services, including some tax credits and land use exemptions.
Those benefits can help tribes develop housing, businesses, medical centers and other services on the land. The Senate bill prohibits using the land for casinos or other gaming.
“By establishing this land in federal trust, the United States government is now fulfilling our obligation to the Jamul people and returning their tribal members back to their permanent and proper homeland,” said Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., on the Senate floor Thursday.
The Jamul Indian Village currently has six acres of trust land, making it one of the smallest reservations in the country.
Chair Erica Pinto told the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in July that additional trust lands would help the tribe protect its cultural sites and develop community resources like grocery stores, child care centers and law enforcement offices.
“Additional trust lands are essential to the tribe’s efforts to restore its ancestral land base, to ensure that its most culturally sacred sites are safeguarded, to bring its members, who are now dispersed throughout San Diego County and beyond, home to reside on tribal trust lands, and to provide essential services to its people,” she said.
San Diego County barred tribes from expanding their reservations for decades. The County Board of Supervisors repealed that policy in 2021.
The Senate bill is endorsed by Mayor Todd Gloria and the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, according to Padilla’s office. It now moves to the House of Representatives, where Rep. Darrell Issa, R-48, is leading a companion bill.
