Isleta Pueblo leaders say casino revenue essential for Head Start and other vital services

Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico

This article was originally published by Source New Mexico.

U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.) on Wednesday gathered with Isleta Pueblo leaders at the Pueblo’s Head Start center to decry online prediction markets that he said are not only illegal and corrupt, but also deprive Indigenous people of their right to self-determination.

The Isleta Pueblo, which has more than 3,000 enrolled members, relies on its gambling operations to pay the 20% cost-share required to receive federal funds for the Isleta Head Start and Child Care center, according to Isleta Pueblo Gov. Eugene Jiron.

Vasquez, whose 2nd Congressional District includes the Pueblo south of Albuquerque, toured classrooms on Wednesday and learned from Pueblo leaders about how the center is incorporating Tiwa language preservation and other culturally relevant education into its curriculum.

But Vasquez and Isleta leaders said tribes and pueblos across the state anticipate steep drops in revenue at their casinos due to unregulated prediction markets.

In doing so, they are bypassing hard-fought, highly regulated gaming compacts that tribes and pueblos in New Mexico and elsewhere rely on to fund vital services, leaders said.

“We’re regulated. We’ve got to report everything through our compact and vendors that are out there,” Jiron said during a discussion with Vasquez after the tour. “We don’t have any information or knowledge of what revenue they’re making. So that’s going to be a lot of impact down the road on our programs here.”

According to the latest figures, 14 tribes and pueblos in New Mexico reported generating more than $266 million in “adjusted net win” in the last quarter of 2025, a figure that includes the revenue made from gaming machines minus the amount paid out in prizes and regulatory fees. Isleta Pueblo reported a little more than $26 million.

Earlier this month, Vasquez, who is a member of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee, secured a commitment from Committee Chair U.S. Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-Pennsylvania) that the committee would consider prohibiting prediction market companies from offering sports betting services.

Vasquez invited Isleta Pueblo members Wednesday to testify before the committee in Washington, D.C., about the impacts the platforms are having on tribal casinos. 

The Mescalero Apache Reservation previously called on the New Mexico Department of Justice to crack down on platforms enabling illegal sports betting. Mescalero and Laguna officials, in a statement earlier this month, applauded Vasquez’s efforts to bring the issue to the House Agriculture Committee.

In addition to concerns about sports betting, prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket are increasingly under scrutiny for the amount of money users are making on well-timed bets on world events, including the war with Iran.

Vasquez also announced Wednesday he was co-sponsoring legislation that would prohibit members of Congress and the White House from trading on the platforms.

“I think what we’re seeing is a very dangerous level of corruption taking root in Washington, DC, and prediction markets and digital currencies have facilitated this corruption at a level that we’ve never seen before,” he said told Source NM.

Patrick Lohmann is a reporter for Source New Mexico.