Albuquerque Indian School Act of 2025
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The bill would take about 9.89 acres of former Albuquerque Indian School land into federal trust for the benefit of the 19 Pueblos of New Mexico, and would transfer buildings on one tract to the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center.
It would require the General Services Administration to relocate federal tenants and hand jurisdiction to the Interior Department, closing out federal ownership of a historic boarding-school site and returning it to tribal control.
What this bill would do
What it would do
The bill would direct the General Services Administration to relocate federal tenants from three tracts of land in Albuquerque, New Mexico, historically part of the Albuquerque Indian School, and transfer administrative jurisdiction over the land to the Department of the Interior within 90 days of enactment. Within another 90 days, Interior would take the roughly 9.89 acres into trust for the benefit of the 19 Pueblos of New Mexico, and the federal government would convey ownership of the buildings on Tract 1 (including a 76,682-square-foot warehouse) to the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in fee.
The land would have to be used for the 19 Pueblos' educational, health, cultural, business, and economic development, remain subject to existing easements, rights-of-way, and utility agreements, and could not be used for class II or class III gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. The Secretary would obtain a survey and encumbrance records and could make minor corrections to legal descriptions.
Key provisions
- 1Would require GSA to relocate federal tenants and transfer administrative jurisdiction over the land to the Interior Department within 90 days of enactment
- 2Would require Interior to take the roughly 9.89 acres into trust for the benefit of the 19 Pueblos within 90 days after the jurisdiction transfer
- 3Would require the trust land be used for educational, health, cultural, business, and economic development of the 19 Pueblos
- 4Would keep the land subject to existing private and municipal encumbrances, rights-of-way, easements, and utility agreements
- 5Would require conveyance of all federal ownership interests in buildings on Tract 1 to the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in fee
- 6Would prohibit class II and class III gaming on the land taken into trust
Who would be affected
The 19 Pueblos of New Mexico, which would receive the land in trust; the General Services Administration and any federal tenants currently occupying the site, who would need to relocate; the Department of the Interior, which would administer the trust transfer; and the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, which would receive ownership of the Tract 1 buildings.
Why it matters
The transfer would return land tied to a former Indian boarding school to tribal ownership and control, giving the 19 Pueblos a base for education, health, cultural, and economic development projects in Albuquerque. Federal tenants would need to find new space, and the gaming prohibition means the Pueblos could not use the land for casino operations.
What would change
Changes to existing law
Amends Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (Sec. 2(i))
Applies the Act's class II and class III gaming definitions to prohibit gaming on the newly trust-held land
Agencies directed to act
Effective dates
- GSA must relocate federal tenants and transfer jurisdiction to Interior
- Interior must take the land into trust and convey Tract 1 buildings to the Cultural Center
How implementation would work
GSA would first relocate any federal tenants from the three tracts and hand administrative jurisdiction to the Department of the Interior within 90 days of enactment. Interior would then obtain a survey and encumbrance records from GSA, make any needed minor corrections to the legal description, and record the survey and transfer documents with Bernalillo County and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Within a further 90 days, Interior would take the land into trust for the 19 Pueblos and convey the Tract 1 buildings to the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, with the land remaining subject to existing easements and a permanent gaming prohibition.
Legislative status & sources
Latest action
Received in the Senate.
Official CRS summary
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This bill takes three tracts of specified federal land (approximately 9.89 acres) in Albuquerque, New Mexico, into trust for the benefit of the 19 Pueblos of New Mexico. (These three tracts of land were historically part of the Albuquerque Indian School, which was an Indian boarding school until 1981.)
The land is currently administered by the General Services Administration (GSA). Within 90 days of this bill's enactment, the GSA must (1) relocate all federal tenants on the land, and (2) transfer administrative jurisdiction over the land to the Department of the Interior.
Within 90 days after the relocation of federal tenants and transfer of administrative jurisdiction, the bill requires (1) Interior to take the land into trust for the benefit of the 19 Pueblos, and (2) the federal government to convey its ownership interests in buildings and other structures located within Tract 1 to the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center to own in fee. (Tract 1, which is approximately 3.57 acres, contains a warehouse that is 76,682 square feet.)
The bill requires the land taken into trust to be used for the educational, health, cultural, business, and economic development of the 19 Pueblos. Further, the land must remain subject to existing private and municipal encumbrances, rights-of-way, restrictions, easements of record, and utility service agreements.
The bill prohibits gaming on the land taken into trust.
Legislative subjects
Geography and mapping; Indian lands and resources rights; Land transfers; Land use and conservation; Native Americans; New Mexico
Committee report
H. Rept. 119-663