Just weeks ago, the Department of Justice announced a sweeping Medicaid fraud bust that exposed Arizona as ground zero for a massive scheme exploiting tribal health programs.

Federal prosecutors revealed how sham addiction recovery providers manipulated Native American status as a shield to siphon off hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars. Patients were recruited off the street with gift cards, clinics were set up in motels and trailers and paperwork was falsified. The state’s AHCCCS system, which was designed to support vulnerable Arizonans, including tribal communities, was looted in broad daylight.

More than just fraud, this episode was a betrayal of Arizona’s tribal nations and a slap in the face to every hardworking Arizona taxpayer.

And now, some in Congress want to open the floodgates even wider.

A group of North Carolina residents calling themselves the “Lumbee Tribe” is lobbying lawmakers for full federal tribal recognition. While they may very well be a legitimate tribe, they refuse to go through the formal Department of Interior vetting process, opting for Congress to short-circuit that process instead.

This is a problem. 

Congress has the power to recognize tribes when there’s no dispute. But when a group’s ancestry is questioned — as is the case here — the Department of Interior’s in-house historians and genealogical experts are supposed to vet the petition. That’s the case here. As a member of Congress in the Lumbees’ home state (North Carolina) has made abundantly clear, over 140 established tribes have publicly challenged the group’s claims and called on the DOI to handle their recognition application.

President Trump even signed an Executive Order to help the Lumbees navigate this process, but they have chosen not to do so. 

Here in Arizona, nearly 300,000 Native Americans and 22 federally recognized tribes have rich histories and real needs. At over 28%, more Native Americans are living in poverty in Arizona than in many other states. The Lumbees are poised to tap into the same federal dollars Arizona’s impoverished tribes rely on — funding that is already stretched thin. 

That’s why I hope Reps. Abe Hamadeh, Andy Biggs, Eli Crane, Paul Gosar and the rest of Arizona’s congressional delegation take a stand for tribal sovereignty by opposing any effort to short-circuit the Department of Interior vetting process for a group that refuses to prove its ancestry.

It’s not just tribal communities that would be put at risk for recognizing the Lumbees without proper vetting. Arizona taxpayers would, too. 

It would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to federally recognize this group. This is money that could have been spent on Arizona’s schools, infrastructure and health care needs. And if Congress gives legal status to questionable tribes, it opens the door to even more waste, fraud, and abuse down the road. 

This isn’t just about money either. When Congress grants tribal sovereignty, it gives a group the power to govern itself, run law enforcement and access federal programs with limited outside oversight. As someone who has spent years fighting sex trafficking and exploitation, I know what happens when oversight breaks down: predators move in.

Arizona’s real tribes have worked tirelessly to strengthen their governments and protect their people. But if Congress recognizes groups without first requiring them to prove their ancestry and capacity for self-governance, it risks creating legal gray zones that can be exploited — not just for fraud, but for crimes like sexual exploitation and human trafficking.

Arizona’s real tribes deserve our protection. So do Arizona’s taxpayers. Here’s hoping our congressional delegation is listening and does the right thing by closing the door to those who wish to exploit our Native Americans. 

Kathleen Winn serves as Pima County chairman for the Republican Party and is host of the WinnTucson show on KVOI.com.