Deadly hit-and-run in New Mexico brings juvenile justice challenges into focus - By Susan Montoya Bryan Associated Press
Behind the wheel of the stolen car was a 12-year-old boy. In the front passenger seat was a boy who just days earlier had marked his 11th birthday. He was waving a handgun as a 15-year-old boy in the backseat recorded video of what police described as a deliberate hit-and-run.
A voice believed to be the 15-year-old's says, "Just bump him, brah." The driver asks, "Like bump him?" The rear passenger responds, "Yeah, just bump him. Go like … 15 … 20."
The car smashed into a bicyclist on his way to work. The windshield shattered and the car sped away in the predawn hours that May morning.
Months passed with no arrests. Then in February a video of the deadly crash surfaced on social media. Remarkably it led police back to an 11-year-old who last June was arrested and placed in custody for a series of break-ins and burglaries in northeast Albuquerque. Police also accused the boy of shooting and wounding another teen, which prompted an investigation that turned up firearms and a bullet-proof vest that had been stolen from a police vehicle.
But the allegations of running down and killing a person were on another level, one seldom dealt with in New Mexico's juvenile justice system.
The 11-year-old and the other boys in the car, now ages 13 and 16, were arrested last week in connection with the death of Scott Dwight Habermehl, a father of two and a successful engineer.
Prosecutors said Friday that all three boys will face the same charges: counts of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, leaving the scene of an accident involving great bodily harm or death and unlawful possession of a handgun by a person under 19. Prosecutors are seeking to have the oldest boy charged as an adult.
The spike in juvenile violence — particularly this latest case — has shaken the community, further frustrated law enforcement and added to the pressure on policymakers to reconsider the limitations of a juvenile justice system that wasn't designed to deal with children as young as 11.
Authorities say there's a perception among juveniles that they won't face consequences for violent crimes.
HOW ARE YOUNG DEFENDANTS HANDLED?
Albuquerque police have arrested numerous teens, most being 15 or older, in homicide cases over the last year. Legal experts and authorities can't recall a case in which someone as young as 11 has faced a murder charge.
Under state law, the 11-year-old cannot be held in a juvenile detention center but will remain in the custody of the state child welfare agency. The other two boys were ordered to remain in a juvenile detention center as their cases proceed, with children's court judges finding they were a danger to themselves and the community.
Santa Fe-based attorney John Day said New Mexico's juvenile justice system was meant to intervene and get help for children so they wouldn't commit crimes as adults. It was designed with the assumption that kids this young weren't competent to engage in this kind of violent behavior, he said.
"Obviously when you have 11-year-olds who are being accused of participating in running over bicyclists and brandishing guns, that's something that when they were drafting these laws was really not taken into consideration because it was a different time," Day said.
There is a minimum age for prosecuting juveniles in 26 states, with statutes spelling out various exceptions, according to the National Juvenile Justice Network. But New Mexico is among the many states without a minimum age and state law allows for teenagers as young as 14 in some instances to be tried in adult court only for first-degree murder.
Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman says the streets have changed dramatically since 1993, the last time New Mexico's children's code was meaningfully updated, but the Democratic-controlled Legislature has failed to consider changes that include expanding the types of violent crimes juveniles could be charged in as adults.
Without modernizing the system and pairing meaningful consequences with behavioral health support, Bregman said things will only get worse. He pointed to a proliferation of guns and social media, saying it's out of control.
"That's how they all communicate. This is how they settle grudges. It's not taking a fistfight behind the high school anymore. They're pulling out a gun and shooting at an unsanctioned car show," he said, referring to a deadly shooting at a park in Las Cruces on Friday night.
"We need to have our laws catch up with the times," Bregman said.
Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Saturday reiterated her disappointment that lawmakers failed to pass legislation to address juvenile justice and what she described as a crime crisis. She said lawmakers should expect to be called back for a special session.
HOW HAS JUVENILE JUSTICE CHANGED IN THE US?
Before the creation of juvenile courts more than a century ago, children who were older than 7 were processed and incarcerated under common law just as adults would be. Younger children were considered incapable of possessing criminal intent.
Along with that history, the U.S. Justice Department's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention notes on its website that the juvenile court system also was established to provide positive social development for children who lack support at home.
Juvenile justice advocates say cases in which young children are accused of murder are rare but not unheard of. In 2008, Arizona prosecutors handled the case of an 8-year-old boy who shot and killed his father and his father's friend. He pleaded guilty to negligent homicide in the death of the friend. Prosecutors dropped the charge for killing his father, saying it was best for the boy not to have to acknowledge killing his father.
Some advocates have pushed for setting the minimum age for prosecution at least 14, citing research suggesting children who enter the juvenile justice system earlier in their lives have more adverse outcomes than older teens.
CAN CHILDREN COMPREHEND THE CONSEQUENCES?
Before knowing the hit-and-run in New Mexico was deliberate, authorities had warned in a criminal complaint naming the 11-year-old in other crimes that the pattern of misconduct was escalating in violence. The document went on to suggest the boy was a danger to himself and the public.
Cases like this beg questions about how children end up in situations like this and what systems failed them along the way, said Amy Borror, a senior youth policy strategist with The Gault Center, a Washington, D.C.-based youth rights advocacy group.
Another consideration, she said, is that adolescents' brains are wired differently. Borror pointed specifically to the part of the brain that controls reasoning, rational thought and the ability to comprehend the effects of actions.
"That's why kids and teenagers act exactly like kids and teenagers act," she said, referring to risk-seeking behavior that intensifies while in groups.
The difficulty comes with figuring out how to hold someone accountable when they don't have the same level of rational decision making that adults do, said Joshua Kastenberg, a former lawyer and judge in the U.S. Air Force who now teaches at the University of New Mexico Law School.
"Kids in the criminal justice system are one of the more difficult questions in the law," Kastenberg said. "Unlike adults, where you can simply say, 'Well, this person intentionally ran down a cyclist in their car, they're a danger to society.' Whether they have anger management problems or they hate cyclists or whatever, they completely disregarded the right of another human being to simply live. ... But when you're talking about kids, none of that sinks in."
Arrests in shooting that killed 3 and hurt 15 at a park in Las Cruces, New Mexico - Associated Press
A 20-year-old man and three teens have been arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with Friday night's shooting at a park in Las Cruces, New Mexico, that left three people dead and 15 others hurt, authorities said Sunday.
Tomas Rivas and a 17-year-old male were taken into custody Saturday and a second 17-year-old male and a 15-year-old male were arrested Sunday, according to a statement from the city of Las Cruces. Each could face a murder charge and additional charges were pending, the statement said.
It wasn't known Sunday if the defendants had attorneys. A message was sent to the public defender's office in Doña Ana County inquiring whether its attorneys were representing them.
Gunfire erupted shortly around 10 p.m. Friday at Young Park, where an altercation broke out after an unauthorized car show had drawn about 200 people to the park in the desert city, police said. Nine male and six female gunshot victims ranging in age from 16 to 36 were treated there or taken to hospitals.
Andrew Madrid, 16, and Jason Gomez, 18, died at the scene and Dominick Estrada, 19, died later at a hospital, according to the city statement.
Authorities were seeking video from the park and tips from those present as the investigation continued Sunday.
Officials said the police and fire departments, along with community groups, would provide support for victims and their family members from Sunday through Tuesday at the Las Cruces Convention Center.
"Crisis counseling, spiritual counseling and connecting victims with local resources and financial assistance will be provided," the city statement said. "Anybody impacted by this tragedy is encouraged to attend."
Between 50 and 60 handgun casings were scattered across a wide swath of the park, Police Chief Jeremy Story said Saturday, suggesting there were multiple shooters and multiple weapons.
Fire Chief Michael Daniels said 11 patients were sent to three local hospitals or the regional trauma center, University Medical Center of El Paso. As of Saturday, he said, seven victims were in El Paso, four had been treated and released and the conditions of the other four were not known.
Local police were being assisted by New Mexico State Police, the Doña Ana County Sheriff's Office, the FBI and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Story acknowledged that illegal car shows at Young Park are not uncommon and that the police presence has been larger in the past. Understaffing on Friday, he said, meant he had "no units available for most of the night."
U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez, who represents the district where the shooting occurred, said he hopes local authorities can work together to support the car community and improve public security in the park.
"Because clearly, what we saw at Young Park was a chaotic event, a lawless event, where folks were not only in danger from firearms, but people were in danger from being run over from the cars that were spinning out in the parking lot," Vasquez said during a news conference Sunday.
Las Cruces sits on the edge of the Chihuahuan Desert along the Rio Grande in southern New Mexico, about 40 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border.
Vasquez commits to working with police following Las Cruces shooting, points to federal legislation - By Leah Romero, Source New Mexico
U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.) committed to continue working with local enforcement in Las Cruces in the wake of a mass shooting Friday evening, as well as supporting legislation at the federal level to address gun violence.
Vasquez held a press conference in Las Cruces Sunday where he discussed the shooting that took place during an unsanctioned car show in Young Park, part of his former Las Cruces City Council district, which left three people dead and 15 injured. Las Cruces police announced arrests over the weekend: – a 15-year-old, two 17-year-olds and 20-year old Tomas Rivas all face charges of three open counts of murder.
“This is my community, this is my city, this is my county,” Vasquez said during the conference. He said the act of violence was a “painful reminder” that the issue of public safety is a systemic challenge.
“We need to know how it happened, what signs were missed and how we can close those gaps that allowed this violence to unfold,” Vasquez said, adding that more needs to be done to support parents and teens during “this new age” of gun violence. “It’s simple – 16 and 17-year-olds in Las Cruces should not be riding around with firearms, unregulated, nearly in the middle of the night. And yes, the question is where are their parents. But the most important thing as well is: Why do they have access to these firearms in the first place?”
He pointed to legislation he introduced at the federal level called Ethan’s Law, which would establish requirements for safely storing firearms on residential premises if a minor is likely to gain access to the weapon without permission. It would create criminal penalties for violations of the law and would also require the U.S. Department of Justice to award grants to implement requirements for safe firearm storage at the state and tribal level. New Mexico enacted a similar law in 2024, called the Bennie Hargrove Gun Safety Act, which requires gun owners to safely store firearms.
When asked about supporting the car community following the shooting, Vasquez told members of the media that city and county law enforcement need to work together to ensure sufficient security at events like the one that preceded the shooting, despite being unsanctioned.
He said Las Cruces’ budget funds over 200 officers in the city now, but recruitment efforts need to increase.
“Our police department here is stretched very thin. They have a lot of places to be and they have high priority calls that they need to attend to, and these car meetups unfortunately are not something new, they happen all the time.”
He noted the Invest to Protect Act he introduced in Congress, which would direct the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services to award grants to local governments with fewer than 200 law enforcement officers to improve recruitment and retention as well as fund deescalation training.
Las Cruces police announced the department will host another news conference on Tuesday with an update on the investigation.
‘It’s real in every city in America’: Mayor talks about challenges city faces as federal decisions trickle down - By By Gregory R.C. Hasman, Albuquerque Journal
Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller spoke to about 200 people Sunday about the impact budget cuts and other actions taken by the Trump administration have had in recent weeks.
“It’s real here,” Keller said inside the Manzano Mesa Multigenerational Center. “It’s real in every city in America. That’s what is so terrible about this.”
Keller touched on topics ranging from budget cuts to immigration. He said the city planned to remain a “sanctuary city.”
“We’re not going to work with (Immigration and Customs Enforcement),” he said.
Keller said the city will also have to take a stand on its short-term budget.
The city is going to have to buckle down and “get ready for the storm, and that’s OK,” he said.
There are two ways to find money: to increase taxes and/or fees, or make cuts, Keller said.
“These cuts will force choices we don’t want to make like eliminating bus routes or charging you a lot to ride the bus because we can’t keep free fares and keep the route structure that we have,” he said.
Some of the cuts would impact other areas, Keller said, including:
- Public Safety: The city could see an impact to a number of areas in law enforcement including drug enforcement, crime fighting technology and a decrease in the size of the police force. “Can you imagine how detrimental that would be, especially given the challenges we’re having with crime?” he asked.
- Housing: Funding would affect projects like Uptown Connect — a mixed-use development that will be near the Uptown Transit Center — that would create almost 200 affordable housing units. “We will never see it” if “Trump keeps doing what he’s doing,” Keller said.
- Minority businesses: Trump also issued an executive order laying out plans to axe seven government entities, including the Minority Business Development Agency.
“What they are doing is destroying every aspect of our community, including the business community,” Keller said.
Another area facing cuts is veterans affairs. Earlier this month, the Associated Press reported the Department of Veterans Affairs is planning a reorganization that includes cutting over 80,000 jobs from the agency that provides health care and other services for millions of veterans.
“This country has a moral and ethical responsibility to take care of our veterans, those people that have sacrificed the most for our country,” Frank Smith, incoming Veterans & Military Families Caucus chairman, told the Journal. “To try to lump that into ‘waste’ is unconscionable.”
A lot of the cuts and executive orders are “pretty scary,” Albuquerque resident Jim Augeri said.
‘STAND TOGETHER'
One area the city is fighting back on relates to diversity, equality and inclusion, which Keller said the city will continue promoting as Trump tries to crackdown on DEI programs across the country. Keller said he will keep offices like Equity and Inclusion and Civil Rights.
He also said the city plans to continue being a “sanctuary city,” which limits or denies cooperation with federal immigration authorities, prevents city resources from being used for immigration enforcement or for sharing information about an individual’s immigration status, unless legally required.
“We are not going to change now,” Keller said.
The city also plans to continue committing to programs like Albuquerque Justice40, a Biden-Harris Administration initiative to deliver 40% of overall benefits from certain federal investments to disadvantaged communities.
“One of the best things we can do is make sure that we institutionalize what we want as a city ... so that no matter what politicians come around, they can’t mess it up,” Keller said.
To get through the next few years, he said, people are going to “need to do this together.”
Keller suggested people talk with their elected officials and tell them, “I want to help defend Albuquerque,” and to volunteer with local nonprofits.
“Of course, getting involved in those community groups is absolutely critical, way more now than it was even just a year ago,” he said.
Albuquerque resident Mary Mandeville said she felt inspired to start volunteering with organizations dedicated to helping young children.
“I think if we all stand together, we’re a heck of a lot stronger than if we don’t,” she said.
Body camera footage is released showing scene outside Gene Hackman's home - By Susan Montoya Bryan Associated Press
Authorities have released body camera footage from outside the home of Gene Hackman, where the actor and wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in late February.
The redacted footage shows deputies talking with the two workers who called authorities to report seeing someone lying on the floor inside the home. With no signs of forced entry or other evidence of suspicious circumstances, the deputies asked about the possibility of a gas leak or carbon monoxide poisoning, and the workers said they didn't see how that could have been the case.
"Something's not right," one of the workers said.
Authorities soon determined there were no leaks that could have been fatal, further fueling a mystery that captured the public's attention.
It was solved about a week later when medical investigators confirmed that Hackman died of heart disease with complications from Alzheimer's about a week after hantavirus pulmonary syndrome — a rare, rodent-borne disease — took the life of his wife.
The Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office released only some of the footage from the investigation.
A New Mexico court last week granted a temporary restraining order against the release of any photographs and video showing Hackman and his wife the inside of their home. Hackman's estate had filed the petition to withhold images, citing the need to protect the family's constitutional right to privacy in grief under the 14th Amendment.
Workers who had maintained the property talked to investigators about respecting Hackman and Arawaka's privacy. One worker described Arawaka as a private person.
The body camera footage also shows brief sightings of one of the couple's dogs running in the wooded hills on their property on the edge of Santa Fe. A man who identified himself to officers as a dog trainer who cared for the couple's pet dogs said the couple were "nuts" about their dogs.
"There's toys everywhere around the property," he said.
In a separate video, Arakawa's hairdresser told investigators that his client took the dogs with her everywhere and that the smallest one would often hang out inside the salon with them during her visits.
That dog was found inside a crate, not far from Arakawa's body. A report obtained by The Associated Press from the state Department of Agriculture's veterinary lab states the dog likely died from dehydration and starvation.
The actor's daughter, Elizabeth Hackman, told authorities she wanted the dog that died to be cremated. Authorities put her in touch with the local animal shelter to talk about the options.
___
Associated Press writers Jacques Billeaud in Phoenix and Rio Yamat in Las Vegas contributed to this report.
After Las Cruces tragedy, governor weighs special session focused on juvenile crime - Dan Boyd, Albuquerque Journal
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Saturday excoriated lawmakers for not passing bills dealing with juvenile crime during this year’s 60-day session, saying she would likely call the Legislature back for a special session in the wake of a shooting in Las Cruces that left multiple people dead.
Describing herself as angry, frustrated and grieving, the governor eschewed the typical jubilant post-session news conference for a more somber event alongside Lt. Gov. Howie Morales.
Lujan Grisham vowed to hold accountable the perpetrators of the late Friday shooting at a Las Cruces park that left three dead and at least 15 injured, but also criticized Democratic lawmakers for their response to legislation increasing criminal penalties.
“They promised a lot more in this session on public safety,” Lujan Grisham told reporters. “The longer we wait, the more victims we have.”
“Accountability is missing in New Mexico and has been for quite some time,” the governor later said.
As for the timing of a special session, she said she had not decided for certain when she might call lawmakers back to Santa Fe. That decision will be made after taking time to process the Las Cruces tragedy and assist the families of victims, she said.
Meanwhile, House and Senate Republicans also called Saturday on the governor to call a special session on violent crime and health care access, saying their proposals on the issues were rebuffed by Democrats during the session.
“Republicans made attempt after attempt to pass meaningful crime legislation, but we were blocked at every turn,” House Minority Whip Alan Martinez, R-Bernalillo, said during a Saturday news conference.
But top-ranking Democratic lawmakers said they had approved legislation aimed at addressing deeply rooted societal issues that contribute to juvenile crime.
Specifically, House Speaker Javier Martínez, D-Albuquerque, cited a bill creating an outside oversight office for New Mexico’s troubled Children, Youth and Families Department.
“You cannot talk about juvenile crime without ensuring that this state steps up and shows up for those children who are in situations where they are struggling,” Martínez said.
He also said Democratic lawmakers had stood firm against proposals to lock up youthful defendants and treat them as if they were “disposable.”
As for the possibility of a special session, Martínez said legislators would try to work collaboratively if such a session is called.
But he cautioned that rushing such a session without ample time for negotiations could lead to a “waste of taxpayer dollars” and a “waste of people’s time.”
SPECIAL SESSION COULD FORCE TOUGH VOTES
The governor also called lawmakers back to Santa Fe last year for a special session focused on crime and public safety issues. But the Democratic-controlled Legislature largely rejected the governor’s agenda, with lawmakers arguing the proposals had not been fully vetted.
During this year’s session, legislators moved quickly to pass a package of crime bills and an overhaul of New Mexico’s mental health and substance abuse treatment system to the governor’s desk shortly after the session’s halfway point.
“We kind of did two 30-day sessions back to back with our approach this year,” Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, said shortly before lawmakers adjourned Saturday.
But despite the urging of the governor, few public safety bills were approved during the final weeks of the session, as several bills dealing with juvenile crime either stalled or were voted down by lawmakers.
A proposed assault weapon ban also died without a hearing in a Senate committee, though lawmakers did approve an expansion of the state’s red flag gun law that Lujan Grisham is expected to sign.
New Mexico Chief Public Defender Ben Baur said Saturday there is no easy fix to issues such as easy access to firearms for juveniles.
“The idea that legislators passing these laws is going to solve these social problems is, I think, putting too much faith in government,” Baur told the Journal.
He also said that increasing criminal penalties for youthful offenders would lead to increased incarceration rates, but not necessarily less crime.
“Treating young children like adults and thinking that’s going to solve our community problems is just wrong,” Baur said.
But the governor said New Mexico must take a different approach to the issue and disputed that supporters of get-tough laws are seeking to lock up youthful offenders for the rest of their lives.
“Wishing we didn’t have a violent juvenile crime problem doesn’t resolve a violent juvenile crime problem,” Lujan Grisham said.
CRIME DEBATE CASTS SHADOW ON OTHER ACTION
While she focused most of her post-session news conference on juvenile crime issues, Lujan Grisham also cited other bills passed by lawmakers during the session that began Jan. 21.
She indicated she likely will sign a bill making it easier for New Mexico’s 330,000 or so independent voters to cast ballots in primary elections, but expressed concern about a tax package that lawmakers approved during the session’s final evening.
However, most of the governor’s remarks focused on public safety bills, as she said fewer than 10 of the 270 bills dealing with crime and penalties that were filed made it to her desk for final approval.
The list of crime bills that were passed includes measures expanding New Mexico’s anti-racketeering and embezzlement laws that Lujan Grisham said she had to lobby legislators to approve.
“That’s not how this should work if it’s a shared priority,” said the governor, who accused several Democratic committee chairs of bottling up crime-related legislation. “That’s not typically what you need to do to move the needle.”
This year’s session marked Lujan Grisham’s last 60-day session as governor — and possibly her last, best chance at getting the Legislature to approve her agenda.
Lawmakers will convene for a shorter 30-day session focused on budget issues next year, which will be the final year in the four-year term Lujan Grisham was elected to in 2022.
But the governor said she’s not done yet, hinting at the likely special session by saying, “We will do more, sooner rather than later.”
Lawmakers in both chambers adopt tax compromise in session’s final hours - Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico
The House and Senate both adopted a compromise tax package on a voice vote late in both chambers Friday night, after hours of negotiations and a failed vote earlier in the day on the multimillion dollar tax package.
The conference committee mended the rift exposed between chambers over the tax package on Thursday — just later than expected. At about 9 p.m. the heads of the tax committees, Rep. Derrick Lente (D-Sandia Pueblo) and Sen. Carrie Hamblen (D-Las Cruces), presented a much smaller package of benefits, and eliminated a new tax on oil that had previously funded the whole measure.
Instead, the Legislature will pay for the $113 million dollar compromise package of tax credits from the state’s reserves, which will be pulled from next year’s budget. Lente said other options were considered, but ultimately discarded, because of the time crunch of mere hours left in the session.
In the compromise package: an Earned Income Tax Credit for lower-income single people and families; removal of gross receipts tax on medical services; a 20% increase in liquor at the wholesale price expected to generate $10 million a year for a tribal alcohol alleviation fund; and a tax credit for foster parents and guardians caring for children.
What didn’t make the cut: 0.28% tax on oil paired with a reduction in natural gas taxes contained in House Bill 548 expected to generate $130 million in revenue; and a series of other tax credits for emergency responders, search and rescue, publishers and newspaper printers and quantum facilities.
The increase in the Earned Income Tax Credit will benefit the approximately 200,000 who qualify currently for the Working Families Tax Credit and expand to about 100,000 more New Mexicans, Lente said. The credit allows people making minimum wage, to families of three up to $70,000 annual income to not pay state income taxes.
“That’s a far reaching, very broad benefit that we would be able to protect in this tax package,” Lente said Friday evening.
Hamblen said the pieces that failed to make it into this year’s package will be reconsidered in the future.
“I think we’ve got this really great foundation,” she said. “We’ve got our hopes and dreams of what we need to look at next year and I’m excited about that.”
Rep. Mark Duncan (R-Kirtland) was the lone vote against the package, saying he thought using reserves to pay for the tax package was “a bad way to do business,” and noted the Legislature was paying $171 million from reserves to balance the budget this year, in addition to the tax package.
Trump administration considers militarized buffer zone along New Mexico border - By Kevin Hendricks, New Mexico Political Report
The Trump administration is reportedly developing a plan to create a 60-foot militarized buffer zone along the U.S.-Mexico border in New Mexico, according to a report from The Washington Post. The zone would be occupied by active-duty U.S. troops empowered to detain migrants who cross the border unlawfully.
The plan envisions transforming sections of the border in New Mexico into military installations, where any migrant entering the area would be considered trespassing.
This proposal has drawn criticism from New Mexico officials.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said resources would be better used to target high-risk individuals through the state’s Organized Crime Commission.
“The Trump administration’s plan to create a deportation buffer zone along New Mexico’s border is a waste of resources and military personnel,” Lujan Grisham said. “I oppose mass deportation efforts that would break up families and harm New Mexico’s economy and communities.”
U.S. Representative Gabe Vasquez, who represents the state’s 2nd Congressional District along the southern border, called the proposal “reckless and wasteful,” arguing that military resources are better used to combat international threats.
“I’ve proposed bipartisan solutions to tackle border security, which should be taken seriously and acted upon,” Vasquez said. “They include funding for screening technology at our ports of entry, modernizing our broken immigration system, and supporting the economic vitality of border communities.”
U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján also disagreed with Trump’s reported plan, saying that “diverting military resources for this purpose would weaken our military readiness.”
Lujan called for comprehensive immigration reform and stronger border security, but not at the expense of existing defense missions.
“Securing our border and protecting the safety of New Mexicans is a top priority, which is why I supported the bipartisan border security agreement — an effort that was ultimately killed by then-candidate Donald Trump,” Luján said.
NM House narrowly endorses open primaries for unaffiliated voters - By Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
The New Mexico House of Representatives by a small margin on Friday voted in favor of opening upcoming primary elections to unaffiliated voters.
Co-sponsor Rep. Cristina Parajón (D-Albuquerque) defended the bill in a roughly two-hour debate Friday on the House floor, with fewer than 24 hours left in the session. She said opening primaries to unaffiliated voters will expand turnout and democratic buy-in from an increasingly disaffected voter base, particularly young people.
As of December 2024, 340,000 New Mexico voters, roughly a quarter of all voters in the state, were not affiliated with any of the state’s three major parties, which are Democrats, Republicans or Libertarians, according to the Secretary of State’s Office. And 40% of New Mexico voters aged 18 to 24 are unaffiliated, Parajón said during the floor debate Friday.
“For me, this was about democracy and strengthening a democratic republic to involve more folks in the electoral process,” she said.
The notion of letting unaffiliated voters cast ballots drew support and criticism from both Democrats and Republicans. Rep. Matthew McQueen (D-Galisteo) said he was concerned about the constitutionality of the law, particularly the First Amendment right to free association.
Enacting the law would tell political parties, “that under your bill, you have to allow people who are not members of that party to participate in your primary,” McQueen said.
Rep. Stefani Lord (R-Sandia Park) opposed the bill because she said it would result in candidates that “nobody wanted” winning primaries.
But Republican Reps. John Block (R-Alamogordo) and Rod Montoya (R-Farmington) wondered aloud whether opening the primaries would help Republicans chip away at the Democrats’ majority in the state Legislature, based on their senses of which party unaffiliated voters tend to lean toward.
Block ultimately voted against the bill. Montoya joined 35 other representatives voting for it, he said, after changing his mind during the floor debate. He said opening primaries could make for more moderate candidates across the board and that it could shake up political races across the state to Republicans’ benefit.
“I’m looking at this today and considering voting for this, because it’s kind of a high-risk, high-reward poker stakes here,” he said.
New Mexico is one of just 10 in the country that has closed primaries. Parajón said there’s little evidence in other states of partisan voters “raiding” the other party’s primary to vote for extreme or unelectable candidates. New Mexico law changes in the last few years allowed those independent voters who want to vote to use same-day registration to change their affiliation to one of the state’s major parties – Democrat, Republican or Libertarian – to participate in primary elections.
The bill passed 36-33. It previously passed the Senate 27-11. It now heads to the governor’s desk.
Corrections: This story has been updated since publication to clarify the law change only would apply to unaffiliated/independent voters; and to correct state Rep. Rod Montoya’s first name. Source regrets the errors.
AG excoriates governor over message on CYFD bill - By Danielle Prokop and Julia Goldberg, Source New Mexico
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Friday signed a bill to create an independent office for child welfare, but made clear her displeasure with both the Legislature and State Attorney General Raúl Torrez over the debate surrounding the Children, Youth and Families Department.
Because the governor’s office received HB5 more than three days before the session’s end, she was required to sign or veto it by Friday morning.
House Bill 5 creates an Office of the Child Advocate headed by a state child advocate appointed by a seven-member committee with members chosen by the governor, lawmakers and the courts. The office is administratively attached to the office of the attorney general (which is how the renamed Department of Justice is referred to in the legislation), but amendments added on the Senate Floor curtailed some of the office’s original powers. That included removing its ability to subpoena; and requiring the New Mexico Office of the attorney general to develop rules to prevent conflicts of interest. An amendment also removed language that would have allowed the new office the authority to determine if CYFD or one of its employees had violated a child’s rights and referred such instances to the Attorney General.
The bill is one of several lawmakers debated during the session in response to ongoing problems at the beleaguered agency. The state’s Risk Management Division recently reported a $3.9 million shortfall in its settlement fund, with child welfare cases playing a heavy role. In 2024, CYFD settled for $18 million across 12 settlements, according to a Source NM review of the settlement data available on the state’s portal. The settlements ended lawsuits alleging the department’s responsibility for the deaths or severe injuries of children in state custody, from years ago.
In her message to lawmakers on Friday, the governor noted the importance of protecting children and said that is why she had proposed creating the Child Protection authority “to receive and investigate complaints of abuse, neglect and foster care cases. The Legislature’s preferred Office of the Child Advocate, she said, was “initially weaponized” by the AG and the Legislature “to intimidate CYFD and its staff.”
The bill, she added, “was not designed to protect children.” Rather, “it was a thinly-disguised vendetta by a Legislature that is still upset at my continuing pursuits of meaningful criminal justice legislation.”
Lujan Grisham’s message also made note of an earlier version of the law that would have allowed the AG “to engage in civil litigation against CYFD and its employees. “I find it disturbing that the individual who refers to himself as ‘the chief legal counsel and advisor to the executive branch of state government including all executive department’ literally lobbied for authority to bring legal action against the very people he purports to be ‘counsel and advisor’ to and did not appreciate the obvious conflict of interest that would have created.”
The governor concluded by describing herself as “deeply disturbed by the legislature’s gleeful condemnation of CYFD. These same legislators insulted social workers, foster families, and case managers. People that literally spend their days trying their best to do good work for our children to keep them safe and give them the supports they need. The irony that the same individuals that literally refuse to fully fund the agency to hire enough staff then criticize their vacancy rates and unmanageable workloads.
In response, Department of Justice Chief of Staff Lauren Rodriguez issued a statement that said, “While we are encouraged by HB5 becoming law, we are deeply disappointed that the Governor chose to center the discussion around herself and her inner circle.The focus of this bill should have remained squarely on the children who suffer from neglect, abuse, and systemic failures. Nowhere in the Governor’s statement is there acknowledgment of their struggles or the urgent need for reform. I believe leadership means