Mayoral candidates spar over Keller's plan to alert public to ICE actions - Olivier Uyttebrouck, Albuquerque Journal
A social media statement posted by Mayor Tim Keller announcing his intention to keep the public better informed about federal immigration enforcement actions prompted an angry reaction Monday from his mayoral opponent, who called the practice “dangerous.”
Keller announced Friday that the public can call the Albuquerque Police Department “to verify if federal immigration agents are operating in our city.”
APD followed up the announcement by issuing a statement saying the federal officials have agreed to share more information with police about immigration operations in the city.
Darren White, who opposes Keller in the Nov. 4 mayoral contest, responded by asking U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico Ryan Ellison to investigate whether the city’s initiative violates federal law.
Disclosing information about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations could endanger federal agents and the public, White contends.
“I’m very concerned about the police department establishing some type of a tip line for people to call to verify whether (ICE) is working in certain neighborhoods,” White said Monday in a phone interview.
“You are providing information about legitimate law enforcement operations,” he said. “That could be dangerous.”
White, a former secretary of the state Department of Public Safety and Bernalillo County sheriff, was responding to a message posted Friday on Keller’s Facebook page saying that the public now can call APD to learn about federal immigration raids in the city.
Keller’s statement said that APD is taking steps “to bring more clarity around immigration enforcement. That’s why we’ve created a new way to verify if federal immigration agents are operating in our city,” the post said. “You can now call APD.”
APD issued a statement Monday clarifying that the public can call 242-COPS — APD’s non-emergency number — to inquire about “a specific presence in the city and whether that is an ICE operation.”
“Our dispatchers can call ICE and verify whether that is the case, and the dispatcher can relay that verification to the caller,” APD spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said in the statement. “We will not know or pass along any operational details to members of the public.”
The process is similar to that used in SWAT activations in the city, Gallegos said.
“Darren White should be asked to be specific about why he thinks an open line of communication would endanger law enforcement and the public,” the statement said. “As it stands, it sounds like he is promoting secrecy and keeping the public in the dark about what’s happening in their own community.”
APD Chief Harold Medina said in a statement issued Friday that he has communicated with Homeland Security Investigations, which oversees ICE, about public concerns.
“While APD does not enforce federal immigration laws, Chief Medina emphasized to federal law enforcement leaders that there must be more transparency around their operations in Albuquerque,” the statement said. “As a result, federal officials have agreed to share information with APD when people have questions about operations.”
Medina also said that federal agents must wear markings identifying themselves as law enforcement officials.
“APD is not in the business of immigration enforcement,” Chief Medina said in the statement. “At the same time, I want to keep lines of communication open to avoid misunderstandings. We want the community to be safe and trust that we are looking out for them.”
In a letter to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, White said that the city’s action “creates a dangerous situation” for federal officials and the public.
“It risks compromising sensitive operations, places federal personnel in imminent danger, and could even endanger the public,” White wrote. “Moreover, this policy may have the unintended effect of aiding illegal immigrants, involved in criminal activity, who are actively attempting to evade lawful apprehension.”
White also called on Albuquerque officials to reestablish access for federal officials at the city’s Prisoner Transport Center at Fourth and Roma NW to check on the immigration status of people arrested by APD.
“We just let (federal officials) set up a laptop and they could check people who were coming in,” White said of the former practice, which ended sometime after Keller was elected mayor. “Some of these people are being charged with very serious felony crimes, violent crimes. It makes no sense to me that we wouldn’t want ICE to apprehend them and have them deported once they serve their sentence.”
APD officials responded Monday that ICE officials rarely used their access to the Prisoner Transport Center when it was available to them.
“Medina said he recalls that ICE had a desk in the (Prisoner Transport Center) several years ago under a different administration, but rarely staffed it,” Gallegos said in the statement. “ICE currently does not have access to the Prisoner Transport Center, where we are focused on arresting and booking people who break local and state criminal laws.”
State auditor releases full report on Mesalands Community College - Noah Alcala Bach, Albuquerque Journal
A state auditor’s report into Mesalands Community College in Tucumcari dating back several years found the school’s spending at one point put it in danger of shutting down.
The report found the college submitted inaccurate fiscal reports and increased salaries for certain high-level staff members, among other examples of financial mismanagement. It also scrutinized the school’s contracting process on at least two occasions and found that the president had hired family members.
The New Mexico Office of the State Auditor intervened in 2023 and plans to assist the college until 2028. The auditor predicts that by next year, the college could be financially stable. However, the auditor’s office said the situation at Mesalands could have been caught earlier and pointed the finger at the state’s Higher Education Department (NMHED) for not recognizing the issues at the school sooner.
“While inaccurate reporting was provided to NMHED over many years, NMHED did not take action or begin to request the necessary corrective measures from the college until November 2022,” State Auditor Joseph Maestas said in an interview last week. “This delay in oversight allowed the college to continue operating without the required financial transparency and independent oversight for a significant period.”
In a letter obtained by the Journal sent to NMHED Secretary Stephanie Rodriguez, Maestas said the “audit determined that the statutory authority of NMHED was significantly undermined” and also that he “strongly urge(s) the implementation of robust review and verification protocols to independently confirm the accuracy of financial reports submitted by higher education institutions across the state.”
“Who’s to blame here? I think it’s a draw, and that’s the way that this is posed, but our letter to NMHED is we’re telling them, ‘Hey, this happened on your watch, and you guys really need to double-check the breath and the substance of your oversight of higher education institutions across the state,’” Maestas said.
He also thinks it’s possible the agency dropped the ball in Silver City, failing to provide adequate oversight to Western New Mexico University, where its former president, Joseph Shepard, was hit with an investigation in 2024 by the auditor’s office — and a subsequent lawsuit from the state’s ethics commission — for “lavish” spending.
NMHED acknowledged the letter Monday and said that it “provided governance and financial oversight for the college to address the concerns.”
“The New Mexico Higher Education Department fully supports the concerns outlined in the audit and in the letter from the Office of the State Auditor, as we have been collaborating on this effort for some time now,” NMHED spokesperson Auriella Ortiz said in a statement.
The repot found that the college awarded a contract to a company owned by someone employed by the school, and another contract was awarded to a company owned by the spouse of someone who was a high level employee at the college, both raising concerns about conflict of interest. Additionally, the report said that then-President Gregg Busch hired his wife and son to positions at the school — raising the question of nepotism — and that he also took multiple trips of “questionable value” for the college.
The report also states that at one point, the school’s financial health reached the point of “insolvency,” and conversations took place about Eastern New Mexico University taking over the community college, which Eastern New Mexico confirmed on Monday.
The state auditor said that the sale likely would have happened and would’ve “sent a chill” in the community had his office and NMHED not gotten involved.
“Mesalands offers a very unique kind of careers, I think nursing and renewable energy, they have that niche,” Maestas said. “I think that would be thrown into this period of great uncertainty, and it could have had negative economic consequences on the city.”
The college, which serves just under 1,000 students in the city of roughly 5,000, increased its reserve fund to around $2.1 million by the end of the 2024 fiscal year, a sizable improvement, according to David Peña, director of policy for the auditor’s office.
The college’s leadership also feels it’s turning a corner.
“I feel like we’re in a really great position right now where we can actually start expanding the programs that we can offer our community,” Mesalands President Allen Moss said in a phone interview on Monday.
Moss joined the college in 2022, leaving his job as superintendent of a rural southern Missouri school district to become the director of Mesalands’ small business development center and was eventually promoted to interim, then full-time president of the school. While he said he was not surprised by the auditors’ report findings and appreciates the office’s assistance to the college, he takes issue with the report’s tone.
“It’s difficult not to take those things personally because even though a lot of my staff and I weren’t a part of that, you’re still talking about the college,” Moss said.
Resentment against Albuquerque ‘deliveristas’ may have sparked viral Walmart ICE arrest - Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
A feud between American-born delivery drivers for Walmart’s grocery service and Spanish-speaking “deliveristas” may have led to recent federal immigration arrests in the Albuquerque area — including one that drew national attention this week, Source New Mexico has learned.
On Monday, a Walmart customer captured video of federal immigration enforcement agents cornering a man inside a Walmart at Coors and Interstate 40. In the video, he screams for help as three agents, two of whom are masked, subdue him with a Taser. He falls to the ground and appears to hit his head.
While the federal agents stand over him, a Walmart official enters the video frame shouting at one person to “get back to work” and approaches the person filming. He orders her to leave the store, saying she’s on “private property.” The 20-second video ends as private security officers begin to escort the woman out of the store.
The woman who filmed the arrest, who goes by Vero Veronica on Facebook, posted the video a little after 11 a.m. on July 7. It’s since amassed millions of online views, along with comments expressing shock at the violent nature of an unarmed man’s arrest and curiosity about what role, if any, Walmart played in an operation that occurred in its store.
In interviews Thursday with Source NM, family and friends identified the man in the video as Deivi Jose Molina-Pena, a 33-year-old whom they said arrived in the United States legally under Temporary Protected Status about two years ago from Venezuela.
With the help of a Spanish interpreter, family and friends said they have not heard from Molina-Pena apart from a brief phone call Monday evening to his roommate, Jean Carlos Useche, during which he seemed to be “in shock”; described severe pain in his head; and asked Useche to take care of his belongings and other small-seeming logistical things.
Useche’s eyes welled with tears as he expressed his fear that his friend was concussed or had other untreated head injuries, and that he’d face retribution from the military if the U.S. deports him to Venezuela.
“He hit his head when he fell. He has something in his head that doesn’t go away right away,” Useche said. ICE “needs to conduct an in-depth study there.”
Molina-Pena and his friends and family who spoke to Source on Thursday all come from Venezuela and are seeking asylum here while working as delivery drivers, including for Spark, Walmart’s grocery delivery service.
Molina-Pena met Useche and their fellow roommate Jose Vergel while driving for the app. His cousin, Daisy Diaz, worked as a Spark driver until becoming pregnant about six months ago, she said. Her husband, Segundo Torres, supports his growing family driving for the service now, he said.
The group describes app-based work like being a Spark driver as a flexible way to earn a living, and one that also helps them maximize wages by simply working for as many apps at a time as possible.
But since President Donald Trump took office in January, the group told Source New Mexico, being a “deliverista” has become increasingly dangerous, with long-simmering resentment coming from American-born Spark drivers who accuse them of stealing their turf and gaming the system.
“The thing is that after the new president took office, racism increased,” Torres said. “Racist people — they already have it in for you.”
Calling ICE on ‘deliveristas’
Source spoke with one Albuquerque Spark driver who confirmed the internal tension among employees may have led to the ICE incident.
A driver named Zack told Source on Wednesday that he and fellow American-born Spark drivers have repeatedly called an Immigration and Customs Enforcement hotline to tip off the agency about where the “deliveristas” gather and how to find them.
Zack declined to provide his last name out of fear, he said, from reprisal from “gangs” like Tren de Aragua he alleges conscript Latino delivery drivers in Albuquerque and elsewhere. (Torres and the others adamantly denied being in gangs: “It’s all political propaganda,” he said.)
Source received a call from Zack after soliciting Spark driver interviews in a private Facebook group. Source included his statements in this story because they provide the best glimpse available into why ICE may have targeted Albuquerque “deliveristas.”
“Drivers are taking matters into their own hands. I know I sat on the hotline for over an hour and a half,” Zack said of calling ICE recently. “But I couldn’t get through.”
Other drivers made calls to the hotline about “deliveristas” whom he knows often gather at the north end of the parking lot of a Rio Rancho Walmart parking lot, he said.
On June 5, a team of federal law enforcement agents swept the Rio Rancho Walmart, detaining as many as a dozen “deliveristas” from Cuba, Venezuela, Colombia and elsewhere, according to delivery drivers who either witnessed the arrests or personally knew people detained. Brian Nobes, a supervisor at First Convenient Bank inside the store, worked the day the arrests occurred and told Source he personally knew several of the drivers, whom he said disappeared from the store the day after the arrests.
Witnesses and others estimate agents arrested as many as 12 people during the Rio Rancho sweep. At least three of them remain in jail, according to fellow “deliveristas,” though none has been confirmed to be deported yet, they said.
ICE officials did not respond to multiple requests for comment from Source last week about the Rio Rancho parking lot sweep or the viral arrest inside the Albuquerque store, including questions about whether calls to its hotline resulted in ICE targeting the “deliveristas.” An unnamed ICE spokesperson told KRQE on Thursday that Molina-Pena “posed an immediate threat to the safety of agents, shoppers and employees.”
However, Zack’s description of whom agents targeted during the raid, which has not been previously publicized, tracks with eyewitness accounts and statements from local law enforcement.
For example, Lt. John Castañeda with the Sandoval County Sheriff’s Office told Source that his office served a “support” role in the arrests at the Rio Rancho Walmart, and while he did not know who was targeted or how many were arrested, he described the operation as focused solely on its parking lot.
‘Green light’ for hatred
The tension between Albuquerque Spark drivers echoes a national trend in various industries, one intensified with Trump’s election and rhetoric.
“The messaging coming from the White House is that anybody who is targeting undocumented individuals, whether they are government officials or not, are heroes and should be praised,” said Lauryn Pfrommer-Pease, a spokesperson for the New Mexico Immigrant Law Center.
She’s seen the ICE hotline wielded against her center’s clients by former partners, ex-coworkers or random community members. It’s become a powerful tool for non-immigrants to wield against those they suspect of being foreign-born, she said, over personal disputes or for strategic advantage.
The dispute here between Spark drivers “feels pretty representative of the hostile energy in the country right now,” she said. “I think that the administration has put a green light in place for individual, person on person, attacks and hatred.”
Torres said a man in a Walmart parking lot two weeks ago photographed license plates of Latino drivers. Vergel said he and fellow “deliveristas” were eating lunch in his car recently when a woman reached her hand into the open window and flipped everyone off.
Last April, U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and other Republican senators introduced legislation calling on major delivery apps like Grubhub and DoorDash to answer for a New York Post article that quoted a single Uber delivery driver who warned that newly arrived immigrants were evading background checks or falsifying their applications. As a result, immigrants driving for the apps “is a significant security issue” given that “we go inside peoples’ homes,” the Uber driver said in the article.
A driver for four years in Albuquerque, Zack accused recent immigrants of gaming the Spark delivery system by using multiple phones and accounts to select the most lucrative deliveries; falsifying account or driver information; and loitering in Walmart parking lots so they can get the first dibs on customers orders.
As a result, he said, he had to take a second job driving for Uber at night to make ends meet, and he claims immigrants’ poor customer service has resulted in customers shopping elsewhere.
In the days following the Rio Rancho Walmart arrests, Zack said, he and fellow “legitimate” drivers got more orders than usual, he said. The same occurred this week at the Coors location, he told Source on Thursday.
In the interview at Las Cumbres Community Services in Albuquerque, where Diaz and Torres received some recent support as asylum seekers, they adamantly denied cheating the Spark app.
Instead, they said they buy their cars honestly and fairly like everyone else, and undergo background and other checks before being approved to drive. Torres said “deliveristas” often use two phones, “one personal, one professional,” to dedicate hard drive space to the Spark app, advice he said he received from fellow drivers and Walmart’s technical support team.
As for waiting in the parking lot, Torres and others said it’s a good way to get as many orders as possible, a strategy others could employ if they chose. He said he is unaware of any Spark app rule he and other “deliveristas” might be breaking.
Instead, he said he and his fellow “deliveristas” are just working harder than their American counterparts. He and fellow “deliveristas” typically spent most days sitting in various Walmart parking lots and stepping out to do deliveries at all times of the day and night, he said.
“Our American dream is to sleep,” Torres said, laughing.
Just take Molina-Pena as an example of that hard work, he said.
‘Targeted’ at work
Like most days, Molina-Pena woke up at 3 a.m. on Monday to deliver packages for Amazon, according to Torres and Molina-Pena’s roommates. He completed several deliveries before taking a short rest and then heading back to Walmart for his Spark gig.
When he arrived for his second or third Walmart delivery of the day, federal agents confronted him in the Coors location parking lot, Molina-Pena’s roommates and family believe, based on a brief conversation with him Monday evening and after speaking with another driver with whom Molina-Pena was on the phone during the arrest.
Molina-Pena ran inside, believing he’d be safe inside the “private property,” but ICE agents followed him. Maria Lozoya Baca, a bank employee, told Source this week that she saw private security officers run toward the aisle where Molina-Pena was arrested.
“He wasn’t even doing anything; he was just there,” she told Source. “It was weird to me that it was targeted, that it was just him.”
Molina-Pena’s family and friends wonder what role Walmart might have played in his arrest and all mentioned how the leaders at the Walmart that relied on his delivery work showed more concern about the video of the arrest than the arrest itself.
“We believe that sometimes it is also Walmart managers [who are to blame]” Useche said regarding ICE’s targeting of delivery drivers. “Even in the video, the manager gets in the way and says, ‘it’s private property’ and starts fighting to stop the recording.”
Walmart spokesperson Joe Pennington declined to comment on the record, including about whether Walmart knew of in advance or approved either ICE operation.
Albuquerque police, which, unlike Sandoval County, have a policy of not collaborating with ICE, learned about the arrest from federal immigration authorities after the-fact, said spokesperson Gilbert Gallegos. He said federal officials told APD that Molina-Pena had a “violent history” and had run from police in the past, but did not provide any more information about their arrestee, including his name. The unnamed ICE agent that spoke to KRQE cited a prior DWI arrest and said Molina-Pena had tried to evade police during that incident.
Court records show New Mexico State Police charged Molina-Pena in late June with driving while intoxicated and fleeing from police. He told officers who pulled him over for allegedly failing to maintain lanes a little after midnight on June 26 that he’d had only two beers, including one in the last 20 minutes, and that he fled because, in his home country, “white and red lights were not used by law enforcement personnel,” according to charging documents.
Online immigration records show Molina-Pena is being held in ICE custody in El Paso. Julia Montany, director of immigrant and refugee services, told Source and Molina-Pena’s family and friends that the American Civil Liberties Union will meet with them soon to discuss next steps and help them contact him.
New Mexico Democratic Rep. Melanie Stansbury’s office is also seeking a conversation with the family to intervene on Molina-Pena’s behalf, Montany said and, late Thursday, Albuquerque City Councilor Klarissa Peña issued a public statement calling on ICE to provide transparency about the arrest, “particularly in how the agency determines targets for detention.”
She also called for clarity on the role of retailers and delivery companies in such situations, because “the community deserves to understand their policies regarding ICE activity so individuals can make informed choices when working or shopping.”
But Molina-Pena’s friends and family aren’t holding out much hope for help, they told Source. The arrest has already resulted in fewer “deliveristas” at both Walmarts that ICE hit, according to employees at both stores, and had ripples for those who knew the man whose arrest echoed across the country.
“We are a family,” Useche said of his roommate and the other “deliveristas” in Albuquerque. “If someone is sick, someone will go find medicine, whatever it takes.”
Molina-Pena’s cousin and cousin’s husband were expecting Molina-Pena to move in with them in the coming days, but now they’re not sure how they’ll pay rent, especially with a baby on the way.
And Molina-Pena’s roommates said the arrest cemented their plan to move to Alabama where they’ll join a friend in a small town there where they say it’s safer for Latinos.
“There’s a pretty high Latino population here, and we felt good here,” Useche said of Albuquerque. “But not now, now there’s persecution that we don’t want anymore.”US Attorney, NM DOJ issues fraud warnings for Ruidoso flood victims - Source New Mexico
United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico Ryan Ellison Friday morning issued a message to Ruidoso residents to be on the lookout for fraud in the aftermath of this week’s catastrophic flooding.
In a news release, Ellison said the flooding, which took three lives and destroyed homes and businesses, had prompted “countless acts of generosity and resilience as neighbors, volunteers, and organizations step forward to help those in need.” However, historically natural disasters “like this also attract individuals seeking to exploit the situation for personal gain. Fraudulent activity undermines recovery efforts and diverts critical resources away from genuine victims.”
Those types of fraudulent activities include: fraudulent charities “or the diversion of donations intended for legitimate relief organizations”; fraudulent applications for grants and loans; “not affected by the flooding who attempt to claim disaster benefits,” the news release said.
Ellison said his office has “zero tolerance for those who seek to steal from disaster victims or misuse funds meant for recovery” and has established a disaster fraud working group with members from its office, the FBI, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Internal Revenue Service and several other federal agencies.
“This group is actively reviewing potential cases and will work closely with the New Mexico Department of Justice, local and tribal law enforcement, and community partners to ensure that fraudsters are brought to justice,” the release said.
The office also encouraged residents who observe suspicious or fraudulent behavior to contact the 24-hour National Disaster Fraud Hotline at (866) 720-5721, or you email disaster@leo.gov.
The New Mexico Department of Justice and its Consumer Protection Bureau issued a comparable warning on Friday, which also encouraged residents to report any of price gauging —sudden increases in hotel, food, fuel, etc. to: NMDOJ.gov/get-help/submit-a-complaint/
The NM Department of Justice also has a dedicated webpage for food recovery resources.
President Donald Trump on Thursday granted an emergency declaration for Chaves, Lincoln, Otero and Valencia counties, which authorized the Federal Emergency Management Agency “to identify, mobilize and provide, at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency” at 75% federal funding.
The state’s congressional delegation subsequently sent Trump a letter urging him to issue a major disaster declaration, noting that the weather pattern that began June 23 has taken three lives, impacted approximately 675 homes, “with hundreds more under immediate threat of ongoing flooding in burn scars” and damaged “70 distinct pieces of critical infrastructure,” including roads and bridges; water control facilities; and at least eight public buildings.
Trump administration withholding $612M in education funding from New Mexico - Austin Fisher, Source New Mexico
One of New Mexico’s representatives in Congress says the Trump administration’s refusal to release education funding is harming both children and adult students, especially those who are falling behind in reading and mathematics.
All three of New Mexico’s representatives in the U.S. House of Representatives on July 10 joined approximately 145 other federal lawmakers in a letter asking the Trump administration to immediately lift a freeze on $7 billion meant for student learning and achievement; after-school programs; teacher training; and adult education and literacy.
“There is no legitimate reason why any review of these programs should prevent the Administration from fulfilling its responsibility to the American people on time,” they wrote. “No more excuses — follow the law and release the funding meant for our schools, teachers and families.”
Vasquez told Source NM the administration is withholding $612 million from K-12 schools and adult education programs in New Mexico, accounting for approximately 13% of all education funding for the state.
That includes $21.6 million in his congressional district; $44 million to the state government; $12 million for Albuquerque Public Schools; and approximately $3 million Las Cruces Public Schools, he said.
“I was an English learner in the public schools system in this country, and I got to where I was because these programs existed,” Vasquez said in an interview. “We are selling our kids short by eliminating these programs, and most importantly all of those kids who are falling behind in math and reading.”
He said school administrators are digging into their budget reserves in an attempt to find solutions. Withholding the money could result in dropped programs, hiring freezes and the loss of essential student supports, Stateline reports.
“What I got from the Las Cruces superintendent was, if they want to continue these programs, which are extremely valuable to the community, to the families and students alike, that they’re going to essentially have to figure out where to make cuts elsewhere within the total budget,” Vasquez said in an interview. “So they’re in a rough place right now.”
Melanie Blea, executive director of federal and state programs at Albuquerque Public Schools, told Source that while district leaders have been planning various scenarios for funding cuts, the timing of the administration’s funding freeze is a challenge given school starts in one month. The district started planning its budget in December; received approval from their school board in March and April; and received approval from the state in June, she said.
“We’re doing everything possible to make sure that schools are safe from these cuts, that they don’t necessarily feel them,” Blea said. “We’re trying to fill holes. We’re trying to cover as much as we possibly can with other funds.”
The funding freeze affects continuing education for teachers at all 143 APS schools, Blea said, and ancillary staff like nurses and counselors.
“We probably can’t do this for much longer, as far as insulating schools,” she added.
Martin Salazar, communications director for APS, told Source NM that the district is committed to keeping all of its 55 who are paid out of the frozen funds employed for the rest of the school year.
“If this goes on, and it’s the same situation next school year or the following school year, that’s going to pose a problem for us,” he said.
A voicemail for a spokesperson at Las Cruces Public Schools was not returned as of Monday morning.
The Trump administration told state governments it would hold back the funds on June 30, to ensure that public money is “spent in accordance with the President’s priorities and the Department’s statutory responsibilities.”
The lawmakers’ letter is addressed to U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought
New Mexico and 15 other states this month sued McMahon’s agency over its decision in April to also freeze $1 billion in grant funding, including school-based mental health programs.
A spokesperson for Vought’s office told the Rhode Island Current that federal school funds were withheld after officials found some districts across the country had allegedly misused the money “to subsidize a radical left-wing agenda,” including English language instruction for immigrant students, scholarships for undocumented students and a seminar about “queer resistance in the arts.”
Vasquez told Source that Trump and other Republicans have been saying their goal in withholding the funding has been to “end free education to undocumented children,” which Vasquez called xenophobic and “a blatant lie” after reviewing the Las Cruces Public Schools budget with Superintendent Ignacio Ruiz.
“These funding cuts are going to have impacts that will be felt by everybody, by all the students,” Vasquez said. “Squeezing every dollar from programs that benefit the public good to pay for these tax cuts for the rich is the real reason this administration is doing this.”
This story has been updated with comments from Albuquerque Public Schools.
Clovis cheese plant gas leak hospitalizes 14 workers
– Josh Lee, NM.news
A major chemical accident at a local cheese plant that led to the hospitalization of more than a dozen workers has landed a local company in hot water with the state.
Last month, the New Mexico Environment Department’s (NMED) Occupational Health and Safety Bureau (OHSB) cited Southwest Cheese Company for five serious violations following a January inspection of the company’s Clovis plant.
According to state records, there was a serious incident inside one of the facility’s chemical mixing areas in late December that involved a hazardous chlorine gas release.
State inspectors said that two separate equipment failures occurred in a part of the plant that’s responsible for automated sanitation processes using industrial-strength cleaning agents. During the incident, a high-level switch on a tank of a bleach-based disinfectant failed. Meanwhile, a fill valve on another tank containing a blend of nitric and phosphoric acid failed to fully close at the same time.
As both tanks overflowed, the chemicals mixed on the floor, triggering the release of chlorine gas. The citation notes that 26 employees working in nearby areas required medical evaluation after the gas release. Of those, 14 were hospitalized.
Exposure to even a small amount of chlorine gas can cause severe respiratory issues. In this case, the gas levels were reportedly at least 30 times higher than the OSHA-permitted ceiling limit and 75 times above short-term exposure guidelines set by industry health standards.
According to the citation, the potential for chlorine gas exposure in cheese plant CIP rooms is “a well-documented and recognized hazard within the food processing industry.” Nevertheless, the citation outlines a number of preventable factors that contributed to the incident, including lack of gas monitoring systems, no emergency ventilation in place and failure to properly contain incompatible chemicals.
Compliance officers also found that the doors to the chemical room were left open. The plant’s negative-pressure ventilation system requires that those doors remain closed, so it can pull hazardous fumes away from employee work areas. This oversight arguably contributed to the spread of chlorine gas into adjacent work zones.
Additionally, Southwest Cheese was also cited for not training employees on how to evacuate during a chemical emergency. According to the citation, the company did have an emergency action plan that designated specific workers for this task, but those designated employees never received the required training to carry out evacuations in a safe and orderly manner.
The state also said that the poor conditions of both the high-level switch and fill valve were contributing factors in the accident, and cited the company for allowing malfunctioning or damaged parts to remain in use.
Each of the five violations was classified as “serious” and carried a penalty of $16,554, bringing the total proposed fine to $82,770.
Southwest Cheese Company’s Clovis plant is one of the largest cheese-processing facilities in the nation. The company plays a significant role in New Mexico’s dairy industry, which ranks among the top agricultural moneymakers for the state.
The company did not respond to a request for comment.