Migrant deaths in New Mexico have increased tenfold - By Anita Snow, Christopher L. Keller and Morgan Lee, Associated Press
Ten times as many migrants died in New Mexico near the U.S.-Mexico border in each of the last two years compared with just five years ago as smuggling gangs steer them — exhausted, dehydrated and malnourished — mostly into the hot desert, canyons or mountains west of El Paso, Texas.
During the first eight months of 2024, the bodies of 108 presumed migrants mostly from Mexico and Central America were found near the border in New Mexico and often less than 10 miles (6 kilometers) from El Paso, according to the most recent data. The remains of 113 presumed migrants were found in New Mexico in 2023, compared with nine in 2020 and 10 in 2019.
It's not clear exactly why more migrants are being found dead in that area, but many experts say smugglers are treating migrants more harshly and bringing them on paths that could be more dangerous in extreme summer temperatures.
The influx has taxed the University of New Mexico’s Office of the Medical Investigator, which identifies the dead and conducts autopsies that almost always show the cause as heat-related.
“Our reaction was sadness, horror and surprise because it had been very consistently low for as long as anyone can remember,” said Heather Edgar, a forensic anthropologist with the office.
Serving the entire state, the office over two years has added deputy medical investigators to handle the extra deaths on top of the usual 2,500 forensic cases.
“We’d always had three deputies down in that area, and I think we have nine or 10 now,” Edgar said of New Mexico's eastern migration corridor.
Immigration and border security are among voters' top concerns heading into the Nov. 5 presidential contest, but the candidates have focused on keeping migrants out of the U.S. and deporting those already here.
The increase in deaths is a humanitarian concern for advocates as smugglers guide migrants into New Mexico through fencing gaps at the border city of Sunland Park and over low-lying barriers west of the nearby Santa Teresa Port of Entry.
“People are dying close to urban areas, in some cases just 1,000 feet from roads,” noted Adam Isacson, an analyst for the nongovernmental Washington Office on Latin America. He said water stations, improved telecommunications and more rescue efforts could help.
New Mexico officials are targeting human-smuggling networks, recently arresting 16 people and rescuing 91 trafficking victims. U.S. Customs and Border Protection added a surveillance blimp to monitor the migration corridor near its office in Santa Teresa, in New Mexico’s Doña Ana County. Movable 33-foot (10-meter) towers use radar to scan the area.
U.S. officials in recent years have added 30 more push-button beacons that summon emergency medical workers along remote stretches of the border at New Mexico and western Texas. They have also set up more than 500 placards with location coordinates and instructions to call 911 for help.
This summer, the Border Patrol expanded search and rescue efforts, dispatching more patrols with medical specialists and surveillance equipment. The agency moved some beacons closer to the border, where more migrants have been found dead or in distress.
Border Patrol says it rescued nearly 1,000 migrants near the U.S. border in New Mexico and western Texas over the past 12 months — up from about 600 the previous 12 months.
Dylan Corbett, executive director of the faith-based Hope Border Institute in El Paso, said 10-member church teams recently started dropping water bottles for migrants in the deadly New Mexico corridor alongside fluttering blue flags.
“Part of the problem is that organized crime has become very systematic in the area,” Corbett said of the increased deaths. He also blamed heightened border enforcement in Texas and new U.S. asylum restrictions that President Joe Biden introduced in June and tightened last month.
New Mexico’s rising deaths come as human-caused climate change increases the likelihood of heat waves. This year, the El Paso area had its hottest June ever, with an average temperature of 89.4 degrees Fahrenheit. June 12 and 13 saw daily record highs of 109 F.
Those high temperatures can be deadly for people who have been on strenuous journeys. Some smugglers lead migrants on longer routes into gullies or by the towering Mount Cristo Rey statue of Jesus Christ that casts a shadow over neighboring Mexico.
Deputy Chief Border Patrol Agent Juan Bernal of the El Paso Sector said migrants are weak when they arrive at the border after weeks or months without adequate food and water in houses smugglers keep in Mexico.
“They’re expected to walk, sometimes for hours or days, to get to their destination where they’re going to be picked up,” he said.
The deaths have continued even as migration has fallen along the entire border following Biden's major asylum restrictions.
New Mexico's migrant death numbers now rival those in Arizona's even hotter Sonoran desert, where the remains of 114 presumed border crossers were discovered during the first eight months of 2024, according to a mapping project by the nonprofit Humane Borders and the Pima County Medical Examiner's Office in Tucson.
Nearly half of those who died in New Mexico this year were women. Women ages 20 to 29 made up the largest segment of these deaths.
“We are awaiting for you at home,” a family in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas implored in early June in a missing person post for a 25-year-old female relative who was found dead days later. “Please come back.”
After a 24-year-old Guatemalan woman’s remains were discovered that same month, a mortuary in her hometown posted a death notice with a photo of her smiling in a blue dress and holding a floral bouquet.
“It should not be a death sentence to come to the United States,” Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Maj. Jon Day told a recent community gathering. "And when we push them into the desert areas here, they’re coming across and they're dying.”
Homelessness among seniors rising across New Mexico, especially outside Albuquerque, group says - Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
A group seeking to end homelessness in New Mexico described an alarming trend it discovered in an annual report: Increases in people aged 55 and over living on the streets, in both urban and rural areas.
The increase in homeless seniors is most pronounced outside of Albuquerque, according to an interview and presentation by the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness, which publishes an annual “point in time” report on statewide homeless trends.
In late July, the group released the most-recent report, finding the highest number of people living on New Mexico streets or emergency shelters since at least 2009. (There are a lot of caveats about so-called “point in time” counts.)
Last Thursday, its leaders presented additional findings about homelessness trends outside of Albuquerque.
One trend presenter Axton Nichols emphasized: The disproportionate increase in seniors living on streets outside of the state’s biggest metropolitan area outside of emergency shelters, called “unsheltered homelessness.”
Nationally, those aged 50 and over are in the fastest growing demographic of unhoused people, Nichols said.
“It’s a really urgent and alarming trend that we’re seeing in New Mexico, as well,” he said at the presentation in Santa Fe.
The “point in time” count on Jan. 29 found that, in Albuquerque, 1,231 people were counted experiencing unsheltered homelessness. That’s a 26% increase over last year, when 977 people were counted.
In the rest of the state, 1,011 people were estimated to be living on the streets that same night, including 194 aged 55 or over. In last year’s survey, 623 people were counted outside of Albuquerque, meaning a 62% increase this year, according to the report.
Among those aged 55 to 64, unsheltered homelessness increased 97% outside of Albuquerque, according to the Thursday presentation. Among those older than 65, it increased 107%, and the number of people in that age group in emergency shelters increased 54%, presenters said.
The percentage increase in unsheltered elderly people is much higher outside of Albuquerque: There was only about a 30% increase in homelessness among those age 55 or above who were not staying in shelters, according to the group.
The reason homelessness is increasing among the elderly is not entirely clear, though it mirrors national trends, said William Bowen, a program officer for the coalition.
He described the trend as one resulting from the Baby Boomer generation, which is often defined as those born between 1946 and 1964, reaching the end of their working life without a safety net.
“It’s a really large population group with basically just inadequate supports for folks who are in an economically precarious situation,” he said.
Bowen also guessed the reason unsheltered homelessness is increasing at a higher rate for seniors outside Albuquerque has to do with there being even fewer shelters, resources, and programs available. But that’s something the coalition is trying to better understand, he said.
Officials pursue new housing wing at Gateway Center —Damon Scott, City Desk ABQ
Albuquerque and Bernalillo County officials are on the hunt for $40 million to convert a wing of the Gateway Center on Gibson Boulevard — formerly a hospital facility — into apartment units. Such permanent supportive housing projects are considered by many advocates as a successful method to address chronic homelessness.
The idea is included on a list of dozens of projects that the Middle Rio Grande Housing Collaborative — made up of city and county representatives — have identified as both crucial and well positioned to help boost affordable housing options throughout the metro area.
The collaborative was launched last year to expedite housing projects by leveraging city and county funds, property and resources. Officials intend to ask the state lawmakers for hundreds of millions in gap funding at the 2025 Legislative Session — enough to add about 2,100 new housing units.
The permanent supportive housing project would be a first for the Gateway Center — the city’s flagship effort to reduce the number of people living on the streets, which is estimated at about 5,000. The facility currently provides 50 overnight beds and 35 emergency beds. It is also in the construction phase of a 50-bed medical sobering unit and 50-bed medical respite unit.
Under federal guidelines, permanent supportive housing provides long-term housing assistance in the form of rental subsidies or long-term leases. It also comes with support services like case management, health care and employment assistance.
Health, Housing & Homelessness Department (HHH) officials said they weren’t ready to release details about the Gateway project, including how many apartment units might be constructed.
“We are in the very early analysis stages of this project,” HHH spokesperson Connor Woods said.
The city launched an effort to expand its Gateway brand this year. Mayor Tim Keller announced in August that his administration would integrate four other facilities into the brand: Gateway West (formerly the Westside Emergency Housing Center), Youth Gateway, Family Gateway and Recovery Gateway.
The full list of housing projects proposed by the Middle Rio Grande Housing Collaborative, along with a funding resolution, is here.
Lowriding is more than just cars. It's about family and culture for Mexican Americans — Fernanda Figueroa, Melissa Perez Winder, Associated Press
For Luis Martinez, competing in lowriding bike and car competitions is about more than glory and bragging rights. The lowrider clubs in the Chicago area have become like one big family and a source of mutual support.
"It just starts with the metal," said Martinez, who got his introduction to lowrider culture when his mother took him to a flea market. He had his first bike when he was 12.
"To me, it's about expressing my art and what I can do with my own hands," Martinez told The Associated Press as he polished a shiny red bike at his home in Mishawaka, Indiana.
A movement of expression with origins in Mexican American and Chicano communities, lowriding is an aspect of Latino history in the U.S. in which people show their pride, honor family and uplift culture. But misrepresentation of the culture in entertainment and media has often associated the lowriding's "low and slow" motto with gang culture.
Still, decades since its emergence, and as the Hispanic U.S. population increases, lowriding has experienced a boom, as evidenced by an increase in car shows and conventions nationwide.
Lowriding involves the customization of a vehicle — from the tires to the sound system — with vivid designs and colors. Unlike hot rods or muscle cars, which are often modified to have big tires and move at high speeds, the lowrider community modified the cars and bikes to go "low and slow," said Alberto Pulido, the chair of the Ethnic Studies department at the University of San Diego.
"It was a way to speak to an identity, a presence and it was done with few resources," said Pulido, who also directed the award-winning documentary, "Lowriding: Everything Comes From the Streets."
"Our community didn't have a lot of money," he said. "They might have had a little bit expendable income to buy a car but then they were kind of on their own to create their vehicles. We call that Chicano ingenuity."
Lowriding blends Latino and American culture
According to Pulido, lowriding originated in the Southwest, although there are disputes about where exactly it first appeared. Pulido said lowriders in Los Angeles would like to make the claim they were the first, while those in San Diego want their undeniable influence in the culture acknowledged.
The culture can be traced to post-World War II, when veterans were coming home with an expendable income. And with the growth of highways and freeways in California, people wanted to modify their vehicles, Pulido said.
Today, conventions attract enthusiasts from all over the U.S. Last month, what was once a small showcase with only 40 lowriders at Lincoln Park in El Paso, Texas, grew to over 300 lowriders from clubs across the U.S.
Hector Gonzalez, of the Lincoln Park Conservation Committee, said the car clubs help members travel to all the showcases in the nation. In the '70s and '80s, lowrider clubs became a representation of the community and offered mutual aid such as ride-sharing and food donations when the local government could not or would not, Gonzalez said.
"It is something that gets passed on from generation to generation," said Gonzalez, who, like most lowriders, was introduced to the community with a bike at the young age of 13. He has passed on his love for lowriding to his own children, nephews and cousins
"Kids grow up seeing the cars, they pick it up and they carry on the tradition," Gonzalez said.
Lauren Pacheco, co-founder and co-curator of the Slow and Low Chicago Low Rider Festival, described lowriding as a global, multibillion-dollar phenomenon of self-expression and innovation.
"It's a marvel of mechanical innovation," Pacheco said. "It is the beautiful artistry in the creative practice of muralism, storytelling and upholstery."
Within the last decade, lowrider conventions have grown so much that they've made their way to Japan. In Nagoya, Japanese lowriders have modified their cars, created clubs and even come to events at Chicano Park in San Diego.
Lowrider community sheds gang culture stereotype
Appreciation for lowriding has increased in recent years, enthusiasts say. But that was not always the case.
In the beginning, lowriding was associated with harmful stereotypes about Latinos as gangsters, Pulido said. Because the culture involved predominantly Latino participants, lowriding became racialized and that overshadowed the artistic and community service aspects of the movement.
The 1979 thriller-drama "Boulevard Nights" also helped to perpetuate the lowriders as gangsters trope. The film's main character, Raymond Avila, played by Richard Yñiguez tried to avoid getting lured into the violent street gangs of East Los Angeles. Lowriding vehicles and the lowrider "cholo" aesthetic was featured throughout the film.
While the perception of lowriding has since gotten better, Pulido said he has been to lowriding car shows where police immediately show up.
Martinez, the Indiana lowrider, said lowriding misconceptions grew in the Chicago area because the community members were tattooed in ways often associated with gang affiliation. Pacheco said the Chicago festival works to dispel those misconceptions.
"We really try not to create a space that glamorizes or romanticizes gang culture," she said. "It's really a celebration of creativity and innovation and family."
Lowriding culture becomes a booming industry
Gonzalez, the Texas lowriding showcase organizer, said the culture's focus on wheels, hydraulic systems and accessories, has helped lowriding become a booming industry.
In El Paso, people have opened small businesses orientated to the lowriding community. In the last couple of years, at least 25 new businesses opened, including body shops, upholstery shops and apparel shops, Gonzalez said.
"It has become a mainstream business," he said. "Back in the 70s and 80s, it was more of a local thing. Everybody helping each other do things on their own. Now there's just all kinds of opportunities to purchase things and have things done to your vehicle."
Originally from Dallas, Texas, Martinez said he would buy the parts he needed from a man in his neighborhood, who would buy in bulk from Lowrider magazine. He said the unfortunate thing about lowriding becoming so big is parts are now mass produced from China instead of being Mexican made.
Lowriding carries family legacy
But lowriding is not just about the often pricey task of modifying cars, Pulido said. It is about building a community that is always there for each other, throughout generations, he said.
"We have grandparents that are lowriders and then their kids and their grandkids are in tune already," Pulido said.
It's a legacy that Sonia Gomez wants for her 8-year-old son, Daniel Marquez. His late father, Alberto Marquez, had been a member of a Chicago area lowrider club. Too young to drive the car left to him by his father, Daniel has a lowriding bike that is more of a memorial to his dad.
"The bike is what he's doing to build it up," Gomez said.
The family will do an ofrenda, a display often associated with Mexican Dia de los Muertos celebrations, when local lowriding festivals are held. As part of the ofrenda, Daniel takes an image he has with his father on a lowriding bike and places it next to his actual bike, which he named "Wishing on a Star."
"We would either go on a (lowriding) cruise with my uncle, or we would go to actual car shows," Daniel recently recalled, while sitting at the driver's seat of his dad's lowriding car parked in the driveway of their home in Frankfort, Illinois.
"My mom would be there," he said pointing to the passenger seat. "And I'd be back there all squished."
All five justices recuse themselves from hearing paid leave dispute - By Phaedra Haywood, The Santa Fe New Mexican
All five of New Mexico’s Supreme Court justices — and one person previously tapped as a proxy — have recused themselves from presiding over a legal dispute between the Administrative Office of the Courts and the state Department of Finance.
Phaedra Haywood with the Santa Fe New Mexican reports at issue in the case is how much paid time off state employees can carry over from year to year and the rate at which they’re reimbursed for that time.
According to the Administrative Office of the Courts, paid time off accrual at the state is capped at 240 hours. When employees resign or retire, they can be reimbursed for unused hours at half of their pay rate.
However, the judiciary adopted a new policy last year that removed the cap on hours — instead tying the number of hours eligible for payout to an employee’s years of service — and allowed employees who opted to participate in a buyback to be reimbursed at 100% of their pay rate.
The state processed the payouts this way for about a year until Attorney General Raúl Torrez issued a legal opinion in June saying the practice was illegal.
The Administrative Office of the Courts filed a petition asking the state Supreme Court to compel the state to process payments in accordance with the new policy.
Two more proxies remain, but it’s unclear who will hear the case.
Undercover chat operation nets 8 arrests for crimes against children – KUNM News
The New Mexico Department of Justice announced Monday that seven men and 1 woman have been arrested for crimes against children in a multi-agency operation.
A ninth person has a warrant out for his arrest. Attorney General Raúl Torrez says each defendant sought to engage in sexual activity with a minor.
Torrez said the investigation, dubbed Operation Overwatch, involved agents from various agencies setting up decoy accounts on digital platforms and messaging services including Kik, SkiptheGames, MocoSpace, Discord, Grindr, Fetlife and Sniffies.
“We are in these spaces. We are looking for anyone who is engaged in this activity,” Torrez said.
Most of those arrested are from the Albuquerque area and have been charged with child solicitation by electronic communication device, and other related crimes.
NMDOJ partnered with the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, the Albuquerque and Santa Fe police departments, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Homeland Security Investigations on the operation.
But FBI Special Agent in Charge Raul Bujanda said parents also have a key role.
“We need parents to know exactly what their children are doing,” he said. “We need parents to be involved. They need to be someone their children can go to in times of need, so that they can ask the questions that need to be asked.”
Bujanda added that if children become victims, they need to be able to go to someone for help. He says parents in this situation need to reach out to local law enforcement and the FBI.
Indigenous Peoples Day celebrated with an eye on the election - By Hallie Golden, Associated Press
As Native Americans across the U.S. come together on Monday for Indigenous Peoples Day to celebrate their history and culture and acknowledge the ongoing challenges they face, many will do so with a focus on the election.
From a voting rally in Minneapolis featuring food, games and raffles to a public talk about the Native vote at Virginia Tech, the holiday — which comes about three weeks before Election Day — features a wide array of events geared toward Native voter mobilization and outreach amid a strong recognition of the power of their votes.
More than 200 people were registered to vote in a matter of hours at the Minneapolis event, where volunteers handed out T-shirts, stickers and special posters created from designs commissioned from artists with tribal affiliations that range from the Onondaga Nation in New York to the Karuk Tribe in California. The theme was clear: Make voting a tradition.
In 2020, Native voters proved decisive in the presidential election. Voter turnout on tribal land in Arizona increased dramatically compared with the previous presidential election, helping Joe Biden win a state that hadn't supported a Democratic candidate in a White House contest since 1996.
Janeen Comenote, executive director of the National Urban Indian Family Coalition, which is involved with at least a dozen of these types of voting events across the country, said this year it's especially important to mobilize Native voters because the country is selecting the president. But she cautioned that Native people are in no way a monolith in terms of how they vote.
"We're really all about just getting Native voters out to vote, not telling them how to vote. But sort of understanding that you have a voice and you're a democracy, a democracy that we helped create," said Comenote, a citizen of the Quinault Indian Nation.
On Monday, the Democratic National Committee announced a six-figure ad campaign aimed at Native voters in Arizona, North Carolina, Montana and Alaska. A majority of the digital, print and radio ads were being placed in local and national Native-owned publications.
In Arizona, Comenote's coalition partnered with the Phoenix Indian Center to hold a town hall Monday called "Democracy Is Indigenous: Power Of The Native Vote," which featured speakers and performances, along with Indigenous artwork centered on democracy.
Local Navajo artist Richelle Key was commissioned to create a painting during the event. Her vibrant brushstrokes were meant to remind people "to keep our culture alive." A second painting featuring the message "Vote for our future" also was on display.
"It's important to vote because we don't want to be forgotten," Key said.
In Apex, North Carolina, about 14 miles (23 kilometers) southwest of Raleigh, the coalition is working with the Triangle Native American Society for an event expected to include a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 and a booth with nonpartisan voter information and giveaways.
During a celebration in Arizona over the weekend, Walter Murillo, a member of the Choctaw Nation and CEO of Native Health in Phoenix, also talked about the anniversary of the federal act and the power of Native voters.
"That is especially important in an election year," he said, mentioning that activities have been centered on getting people engaged, registering them to vote and encouraging them to cast their ballots.
There were also dances and sunrise gatherings to mark the day at spots across the nation, from the campus at the Santa Fe Indian School in New Mexico to San Francisco, where passengers boarded ferries headed for Alcatraz Island.
Alcatraz has served as a symbol for self-determination after it was taken over in the 1960s by Indigenous students who demanded that the U.S. government recognize longstanding agreements with tribes.
While not a federal holiday, Indigenous Peoples Day is observed by 17 states, including Washington, South Dakota and Maine, as well as Washington, D.C., according to the Pew Research Center. It typically takes place on the second Monday in October, which is the same day as the Columbus Day federal holiday.