Santa Fe conflicted over gun ban in some city buildings - Associated Press
Officials in Santa Fe are divided over the mayor's proposal to ban guns in some city buildings.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that at least two councilors at a meeting earlier this month questioned whether Mayor Alan Webber's resolution is even enforceable.
Webber is calling for signs prohibiting firearms at locations like City Hall, the Santa Fe Community Convention Center and other sites used for school-related or sanctioned events. Anyone caught with a gun on these properties would be charged with a fourth-degree felony.
Councilor Michael Garcia says the New Mexico Attorney General's Office recently determined a similar ban in a Bernalillo County building was not legal. The office pointed to an amendment in the state constitution that states no municipality can regulate the right to bear arms.
Councilor Lee Garcia says the ban could unintentionally penalize hunters who unknowingly have their weapons in the car.
Amanda Chavez, a co-sponsor of the resolution, says it follows a state law that allows enforcement of deadly weapons on a school campus or any property used for public school-related activities.
The Santa Fe Police Department is in discussions with the city on how to enforce the proposal, which is up for a vote Jan. 11.
New Mexico city ends bid to retrofit coal-fired power plant - Associated Press
City leaders have ended their bid to retrofit a shuttered coal-fired power plant in northwestern New Mexico as a way to preserve jobs and tax revenue for Farmington and surrounding communities.
The city of Farmington announced Tuesday it had ended the effort began years ago to acquire the San Juan Generating Station and run it with partner Enchant Energy as part of a carbon capture project.
The announcement came hours after a closed meeting with city councilors, the city's legal team and the head of Enchant Energy, the Daily Times reported.
City officials said a recent decision by an arbitration panel to allow Public Service Co. of New Mexico and other plant owners to dismantle and auction key parts of the plant was a "catastrophic blow" to the partnership with Enchant. The city had hoped the panel would instead put on hold the auction.
"For a region already facing economic challenges, we have worked diligently to keep SJGS open with carbon capture," Farmington Mayor Nate Duckett said in a statement. "Unfortunately, profit and the (Energy Transition Act) have taken precedence over the livelihoods of real people and families."
PNM, the state's largest electric utility, demanded the matter go to arbitration after the city sued in September to stop the auctions and get talks underway with other plant owners.
The case was moved to federal court and arbitration followed. The three-member arbitration panel on Dec. 14 rejected the city's second try to halt auctions of electrical components.
PNM on Monday threatened legal action against the city if it continued to delay the plant's decommissioning.
Enchant Energy CEO Cindy Crane said Tuesday the company is still part of the Farmington community and will remain so. Enchant and the city joined forces in 2019 in an effort to keep open the San Juan plant, which produced its last bit of electricity in September before going offline.
Crane said work done to reopen the power station included a successful engineering and design study related to plans for large-scale decarbonization.
"It was a tough decision by the city," Crane said. "Unfortunately, it's the outcome that occurred."
Crane said Enchant has other projects in the works but declined to provide details due to non-disclosure agreements.
Duckett said work will continue to strengthen the local economy.
"I deeply regret that the arbitrators' decision means we are not able to help our dislocated workers support their families and can only offer as consolation that we will continue our efforts to help mitigate these devastating impacts," Duckett said.
PNM did not comment on the city's announcement.
The utility, which is overseeing the decommissioning, argued in a filing made as part of the arbitration process that everything to be sold was replaceable and that the city would have enough time to do so since the carbon-capture project would not be operational until September 2027.
PNM also argued that much of the equipment is over 30 years old and would need to be replaced as part of any proposal to operate the plant in the future.
The arbitrators noted the potential for PNM and the other owners working to decommission the plant to face increased costs if the process was stopped.
Son of former Taos mayor dead in truck rollover crash - Associated Press
The grown son of former Taos Mayor Daniel Barrone has died in a car crash.
Media outlets report authorities identified 36-year-old Daniel Barrone Jr. as a truck driver who was killed Monday in a rollover crash.
Taos County deputies responded around 2 p.m. to U.S. Highway 64 and found the logging truck on its side.
Investigators say the younger Barrone was the only one in the truck and the crash happened on a curve.
Sheriff Jerry L. Hogrefe says neither speed nor impairment appear to be factors. An investigation into the cause remains ongoing.
Mayor Barrone was the mayor from 2018 up until this year. He also served in the state Legislature between 2020 and 2021.
In a message on the Town of Taos' Facebook page, current Mayor Pascualito Maestas said the entire town was sending prayers and condolences to his predecessor and his family.
Maestas said Barrone Jr. was known for his his big heart and helping hand.
Another $1.45 billion could be on the way for NM fire victims – By Alice Fordham, KUNM News
Another huge tranche of government money could be on the way to help fire victims in New Mexico. A proposed federal spending bill includes $1.45 billion to compensate victims of the disastrous Calf Canyon/Hermit's Peak fire earlier this year, which was accidentally started by the US Forest Service. The money is in addition to $2.5 billion allocated in September.
The funding could pay for everything from new homes to clearing acequias to compensating for loss of logging and grazing rights
Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernandez told KUNM that although entities like the state and local municipalities are eligible for the help, regular people should come first
“We are going to prioritize that those who are least able to survive long periods of time without receiving their compensation,” she said.
She said she is pressing the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, to hire staff locally, and as quickly as possible
In order to get $3.95 billion out the door. You need people to process those claims. And until people start getting the checks in hand. It's going to be hard right?
FEMA says applicants should be able to begin filing claims around February.
New Mexico seeks tougher provisions for US nuclear dump - By Susan Montoya Bryan Associated Press
State officials on Tuesday released a draft permit that includes tougher provisions for the U.S. government to meet if it wants to continue dumping radioactive waste from decades of nuclear research and bomb-making in the New Mexico desert.
The public will have the next 60 days to comment on the proposal. Watchdog groups already have indicated their support for measures that include forcing the federal government to consider developing another waste repository elsewhere in the U.S. and reporting annually on those efforts.
Top state officials have accused the federal government of taking advantage of New Mexico over the decades. They are also concerned about the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in southeastern New Mexico having an unending lifespan.
State Sen. Jeff Steinborn, a Las Cruces Democrat who heads the Legislature's radioactive and hazardous materials committee, said the permit proposed by the New Mexico Environment Department puts definition and meaning into the state's agreement with the federal government for operating the underground repository.
"I think there's this mentality that New Mexico can just be the forever home for all the nation's waste. It's an exploitative mentality regarding our state," he said in an interview. "And so it's good to see our state setting boundaries."
New Mexico wants to raise the bar by demanding federal officials produce a full accounting of materials still needing to be cleaned up and shipped to the repository from laboratories and defense-related sites around the country. The state also is putting Congress on notice that the permit would be revoked if lawmakers expand the type of waste accepted at WIPP.
Currently, the subterranean landfill carved out of an ancient salt formation is licensed to take transuranic waste, or waste generated by the nation's nuclear weapons program that is contaminated with radioactive elements heavier than uranium. The drums and special boxes entombed there are packed with lab coats, rubber gloves, tools and other contaminated debris.
The U.S. Energy Department said in a statement that it looks forward to participating in the comment period.
The comment period will be followed by negotiations with the Department of Energy and a public hearing.
State officials and watchdog groups expect the Department of Energy to push back on several conditions, and it could take a year before a final permit is hashed out and approved.
Don Hancock with Southwest Research and Information Center said his group is concerned that limits on the volume of waste that can be disposed at WIPP will not be enforced and that the permit does not include a final end date for shipments.
Hancock said the state's proposed conditions can be strengthened. For example, the Department of Energy could include timelines and milestones in the report on efforts to develop another repository and make that information publicly available.
The permit negotiations follow Congress' approval last week of a defense bill that would clear the way for more money to be spent on making key plutonium components for the nation's nuclear arsenal. The waste resulting from new production would require disposal.
Democratic members of New Mexico's congressional delegation have supported expanding production at Los Alamos National Laboratory, the once-secret installation that helped with development of the atomic bomb. The mission has an escalating price tag and promises to bring jobs to the state.
While federal officials have described the project as essential for national security, critics have voiced their concerns about unchecked spending, the lab's history of safety violations and environmental consequences of ramped-up production.
Steinborn said he recognizes the economic benefits of facilities like Los Alamos and WIPP.
"And yet, at the same time, we should never sacrifice or be willing to look the other way or take the soft approach towards vigorously defending our public health or safety for any of these projects — or for that matter any industry in the state of New Mexico," he said.
Steinborn noted that New Mexico also is grappling with contamination from past uranium mining, oil and gas development and the use of toxic firefighting chemicals known as PFAS at air force bases around the state.
Navajo company sues BNSF Railway over coal transportation- By Felicia Fonseca Associated Press
One of the largest coal producers in the United States has sued a major freight railroad, alleging it breached a contract to transport coal from Montana for use overseas.
The Navajo Transitional Energy Co. alleges that major shortcomings in BNSF Railway service cost it $150 million in lost revenue this year and another $15 million in charges when coal wasn't loaded in a timely manner onto ships destined for Japan and Korea. The lawsuit was filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Billings, Montana.
BNSF Railway spokesperson Lena Kent declined to comment Tuesday.
Like other freight railroads, BNSF has struggled to deliver products on time and handle all the shipments that companies want to move because of worker shortages coming out of the coronavirus pandemic. Service has improved but not to pre-pandemic levels.
NTEC contends BNSF gave no indication it wouldn't be able to handle shipping up to 5.5 million tons of coal from its Spring Creek Mine near the border of Montana and Wyoming to a coal export facility in Canada when the companies negotiated a contract for 2022.
BNSF told NTEC in late April and early May that it could commit to delivering only 3.1 million tons of coal this year, far short of what NTEC needed to fulfill its own obligations to customers and maintain good working relationships, according to the lawsuit.
NTEC further alleged that BNSF favored other coal companies that ship on the railroad.
"BNSF is, simply put, abusing its monopoly power and picking winners and losers," Matt Babcock, vice president of sales and marketing for NTEC said in a statement. "And it's not only at the expense of our business and our customers, but at the expense of the Navajo Nation."
The Navajo Nation is the sole shareholder of NTEC, which owns three coal mines in the Powder River Basin of Montana and Wyoming, and another near Farmington, New Mexico — making it the third-largest coal company in the nation. It also owns a share of the coal-fired Four Corners Power Plant near Farmington.
Revenue from NTEC makes up about one-third of the Navajo Nation's roughly $160 million general fund, which doesn't account for federal funding the tribe receives. NTEC's corporate offices are in Broomfield, Colorado.
Fort Worth, Texas-based BNSF Railway is owned by Warren Buffet's Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate, Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
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This story has been updated to show the lawsuit was filed Monday.
How will asylum work after Title 42 ends? No one knows yet - By Elliot Spagat Associated Press
Show up at a border crossing with Mexico and ask a U.S. official for asylum? Sign up online? Go to a U.S. embassy or consulate?
The Biden administration has been conspicuously silent about how migrants who plan to claim should enter the United States when Trump-era limits end, fueling rumors, confusion and doubts about the government's readiness despite more than two years to prepare.
"I absolutely wish that we had more information to share with folks," said Kate Clark, senior director for immigration services at Jewish Family Service of San Diego, which has facilitated travel within the United States for more than 110,000 migrants released from custody since October 2018.
Migrants have been denied rights to seek asylum under U.S. and international law 2.5 million times since March 2020 on grounds of preventing COVID-19 under a public-health rule that was scheduled to expire Wednesday until U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts ordered a temporary hold. Title 42 has been applied disproportionately to those from countries that Mexico agrees to take back: Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and more recently Venezuela, in addition to Mexico. People from those countries are expected to drive an anticipated increase in asylum claims once the rule is lifted.
Many expect the government to use CBPOne, an online platform for appointment registration that was introduced in 2020. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection mobile app has had limited use for people applying for travel permits and for those tracking U.S. immigration court hearings under the now-defunct "Remain in Mexico" policy.
It's expected migrants using the app would make appointments to seek asylum in the United States, but would have to remain outside the country until their slotted time and date.
CBPOne, which some advocacy groups oppose over data privacy concerns, may be impractical for migrants without internet access or language skills. The agency also must get the word out.
Nicolas Palazzo, an attorney with Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center in El Paso, Texas, said he worries scammers will charge migrants to sign them up and that CBP's limited processing capacity will result in intolerable waits.
"Unless they plan to ramp that up significantly, someone applying for admission on CBPOne is going to be given a date that is like a year out," Palazzo said. "Realistically, can they tell me with a straight face that they expect people to wait that long?"
Mohamad Reza Taran, 56, left Iran on Nov. 26 after converting to Christianity and flew to Tijuana, Mexico, where U.S. border inspectors at a San Diego crossing turned him away when he asked for asylum.
The computer technician planned to wait to see if he would get in immediately after Title 42 is lifted and, if not, said he would cross the border illegally, perhaps by climbing the border wall in San Diego or walking across flat desert in Yuma, Arizona. He has family in Los Angeles and sees the United States as his only option.
"I have nothing here," Taran said in an interview outside a church in Tijuana, where he was searching for people who could instruct him on U.S. policies.
U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Texas Democrat, said CBP officials told him last week they hoped to funnel asylum-seekers through official crossings and turn back to Mexico anyone who crosses the border illegally to the greatest possible extent. Doing so would likely be challenged in court because asylum law says people who enter illegally are entitled to seek protection.
No one disputes that the Border Patrol is woefully ill-equipped for processing — even while Title 42 kept a lid on numbers.
The Border Patrol paroled nearly 450,000 migrants in the United States through October — including 68,837 in October and 95,191 in September — sparing its agents the time-consuming work of issuing orders to appear in immigration court. According to a Government Accountability Office report, it typically takes at least two hours to prepare a court case, compared to a half-hour to release someone on parole.
Migrants paroled by Border Patrol agents are allowed to move freely within the United States and told to report to an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices at their final destinations, typically in two months.
The GAO report, released in September, details how the processing work dumped on ICE has hamstrung employees. As of March, ICE scheduled 15,100 appointments for families to complete processing as far out as March 2024. One ICE office reported up to 500 people a day showing up in person, most without appointments.
After families get a court appearance, they contend with a court system that is backlogged by more than 2 million cases, resulting in waits of several years for judges to reach decisions.
Waiting two years to just get on the court docket reflects a "totally collapsed" system, said Theresa Cardinal Brown, managing director of immigration and cross-border policy for the Bipartisan Policy Center.
Online registration using CBPOne would be "antithetical to the whole concept of asylum" because it could force people to wait in unsafe places, said Melissa Crow, litigation director for the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies at the University of California Hastings College of the Law.
Crow and others believe CBP could process far more people than they have been.
Earlier this year, the agency processed up to about 1,000 Ukrainians a day at San Diego's San Ysidro border crossing, about three times its custody capacity.
Since the pandemic, migrants released in San Diego have been housed in motels until leaving, usually on a flight to family and friends east of the Mississippi River, Clark said. To prepare for the end of Title 42, Jewish Family Service opened a building for families to snack, watch television and play in a courtyard after they book travel, freeing up motel rooms for new arrivals. Clark likens it to an "airport lounge."
CBP has been releasing more migrants to Jewish Family Service through exemptions to the asylum limits — about 200 to 250 a day, Clark said. Others are housed by the Catholic Charities Diocese of San Diego.
"It's a day we've been working toward for some time," Clark said Monday, having heard nothing from CBP about how migrants will be processed after asylum limits end. She anticipates more releases but doesn't know how many.
Albuquerque sued by ACLU for hounding, harassing homeless - By Susan Montoya Bryan Associated Press
The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico and others are suing the city of Albuquerque to stop officials in the state's largest city from destroying homeless encampments and jailing and fining people who are living on the street.
The lawsuit filed Monday accuses the city of violating the civil rights of what advocates describe as Albuquerque's most vulnerable population.
Lawyers for the ACLU, the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty and a group of homeless plaintiffs contend that Albuquerque has initiated a campaign in which city personnel is hounding and harassing the homeless.
The complaint blames the city's own policies for causing a housing shortage, along with escalating home prices that have put ownership out of reach and have resulted in more pressure on the rental market. They also point to the trend of institutional investors buying single-family homes and renting them at sky-high rates.
"The lack of affordable housing and adequately paid employment in Albuquerque has not only caused precariously housed individuals and families to lose their housing, but it has also presented a barrier for currently unhoused people to exit homelessness," the lawsuit states.
The lawyers also acknowledge that mental illness, disabilities or substance abuse can be contributing factors to some people's homelessness, but that the city simply doesn't have enough beds or shelters to accommodate the growing population.
Democratic Mayor Tim Keller's office did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on the lawsuit.
The ACLU is fighting similar actions in Arizona, where a federal judge last week temporarily halted Phoenix from conducting sweeps of a huge homeless encampment downtown.
In Albuquerque, the mayor's office has struggled to address the complaints of residents about homeless encampments taking over public parks and about aggressive panhandling. The city plans to develop a multimillion-dollar center on Albuquerque's south side where the homeless can seek services but the number of beds will meet only a fraction of the need.
Those without a place to go also have complained that the city's emergency housing shelter in a remote area west of Albuquerque is dangerous, unsanitary and infested with black mold.
According to the lawsuit, the shelter — which is able to house as many as 450 people — lacks working fire hydrants, does not meet fire safety and building codes, and has no means of sanitizing sheets, blankets or bedding to rid them of bed bugs and parasites.
Many of those at the shelter also have mental illness and behavioral health disabilities, and the advocates say mental health therapy is not provided there.
The lawsuit also detailed a homeless community of about 120 people that set up camp in Coronado Park, a city park north of downtown along a busy interstate. City workers began clearing the park of tents and belongings earlier this summer, making for what the plaintiffs described as a chaotic scene.
"Because the city lacks adequate shelter space and because even the available shelter space is not a viable option for some people, the people evicted from Coronado Park had nowhere to go," the lawsuit states. "People have looked for other locations, but the city continues to sweep unhoused people from wherever they land, making it impossible for people to settle anywhere."
The New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness estimates the number of New Mexicans experiencing homelessness statewide is between 15,000 and 20,000. That includes those staying in shelters or outdoors and those who are temporarily living with others, living in unsafe housing conditions, sleeping in cars or staying in motels.
Maria Martinez Sanchez, legal director at ACLU-NM, said laws that criminalize people experiencing homelessness make it harder for them to find housing and jobs because even misdemeanor convictions can make someone ineligible for subsidized housing.
"Criminalizing homelessness does nothing to address its root causes. In fact, it exacerbates the problem," she said. "We know the solution — affordable housing. The city just needs to find the will and the courage to make it happen."