Opinion ID: 3152784
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Opposition and Litigation

Text: The Nation’s trust application and subsequent plans to build a gaming casino on Parcel 2 have been vigorously opposed by Defendants, the Gila River Indian Community, and others. Shortly after the Secretary’s July 2010 decision, the City, the Gila River Indian Community, and others filed lawsuits against the Department of the Interior in the District of Arizona, challenging the Parcel 2 decision as a violation of the Administrative Procedure Act and the U.S. Constitution. The Nation subsequently intervened as a defendant, and the State of Arizona and various state legislators intervened as plaintiffs. The lawsuits were consolidated into one proceeding, denominated Gila River Indian Community v. United States, No. 10-cv-1993. In March 2011, the district court in Gila River Indian Community upheld the Secretary’s decision and rejected statutory and constitutional challenges brought by the City, the State of Arizona, and others. The plaintiffs in that case appealed. The district court enjoined the United States from taking Parcel 2 into trust and enjoined the City from annexing Parcel 2 during the pendency of the appeal. In an opinion issued on July 9, 2013, we affirmed the district court’s decision in part and reversed in part. See Gila River Indian Community v. United States, 729 F.3d 1139 (9th Cir. 2013). We concluded that the phrase “within the TOHONO O’ODHAM NATION V. STATE OF ARIZONA 9 corporate limits” under section 6(d) of the Act was ambiguous, and we instructed that the matter be remanded to the Secretary to reconsider the phrase in light of the ambiguity we identified. Id. at 1147. Once our mandate issued, and the district court remanded Gila River Indian Community v. United States to the Secretary “consistent with the Ninth Circuit’s opinion and mandate,” it terminated the case, thereby dissolving its injunction. On June 21, 2013, we vacated submission of the present appeal pending the Secretary’s determination on remand. In response to our remand, on July 3, 2014, the Secretary reaffirmed that the phrase “within the corporate limits” has a jurisdictional rather than geographical meaning and was meant to describe “lands that have actually been incorporated by a municipality.” Applying this definition, the Secretary determined that Parcel 2 was not “within the corporate limits” of the City and that “the legal requirements under the Act for acquiring Parcel 2 in trust have been satisfied.” Consistent with the Secretary’s ruling, the United States took Parcel 2 into trust for the Nation on July 7, 2014.