Federal distrust prompts some Democratic states to protect polling places, election records - By Morgan Lee and Susan Haigh, Associated Press
Democratic-led states alarmed by the prospect of federal immigration officers patrolling the polls during this year's midterm elections are taking steps to counter what they see as a potential tactic to intimidate voters.
New Mexico this week became the first state to bar armed agents from polling locations in response to President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, a step being considered in at least a half dozen other Democratic-led states.
The moves highlight a deep distrust toward the Trump administration from blue states, which have been the target of his aggressive immigration tactics while threatened with military deployments and deep cuts in federal funding. Their concerns were heightened after the president suggested he wants to nationalize U.S. elections, even though the Constitution says it's the states that run elections.
The Trump administration said it has no plans to deploy immigration agents to polling locations. Last month, the heads of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol told a congressional committee "No, sir" when asked if they had any plans to guard polling places. The Department of Homeland Security's deputy assistant secretary for election integrity, Heather Honey, recently told secretaries of state it "is simply not true" that immigration agents will be at the polls this year.
But a group of eight secretaries of state wants that in writing from the nominee to succeed Kristi Noem as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. In a letter Monday to Trump's new pick to lead the agency, Markwayne Mullin, the group pressed for assurances "that ICE will not have a presence at polling locations during the 2026 election cycle."
Federal law already prohibits the deployment of armed federal forces to election locations unless "necessary to repel armed enemies of the United States," but Democratic lawmakers, election officials and governors remain concerned.
"The fear is that the Trump administration will attempt to evoke a national emergency or execute some other deployment of federal agents or military troops in order to interfere with elections and intimidate voters," said Connecticut Democratic state Rep. Matt Blumenthal, co-author of a state bill to establish a 250-foot buffer from federal agents at local polls and other restrictions on federal intervention. "And we're not going to let that happen."
A potential clash between states and the federal government
Other bills seeking to ban immigration agents at the polls are pending in Democratic-led states, large and small, from California to Rhode Island.
In Virginia, lawmakers are weighing legislation that could prevent federal civil immigration officials from making arrests within 40 feet of any polling place or courthouse. But the provision on polling sites remains under negotiation, and it's unclear whether it will be in the final bill.
The newly signed law in New Mexico prohibits orders that put any armed person in the "civil, military or naval service of the United States" at local polling locations and related parking areas, or within 50 feet of a monitored ballot box, from the start of early voting.
Under New Mexico's new law, which takes effect in May and will be in place for the state's June 2 primary, people who experience intimidation or obstruction at the polls from federal agents or military personnel can file a civil lawsuit seeking relief in state courts. State prosecutors and local and state election officials also can sue, and the courts can apply fines of up to $50,000 per violation.
It also prohibits changes to voting qualifications and election rules and procedures that conflict with New Mexico law, as Trump prods the U.S. Senate to approve a bill to impose strict new proof-of-citizenship requirements in elections nationwide.
Any state measures intended to counter federal election law will face legal hurdles because of the supremacy clause in the U.S. Constitution, which says federal law supersedes state law.
"It could set up a direct clash between state governments and the federal government. We don't know exactly how that's going to go," said Richard Hasen, director of the Safeguarding Democracy Project at the UCLA School of Law. "Given the supremacy clause, there's only so much states can do."
'We will hold free and fair elections'
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said her own distrust of the Trump administration in election oversight stems from ongoing Department of Justice efforts to get detailed state voter data without explaining why and Trump's continuing false claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
"Do I believe the federal government and people in the White House? No," said Lujan Grisham, who terms out of office at the end of 2026.
"We are sending a message to everyone: We will hold free and fair elections, and New Mexicans will be safe in every ballot location and that's our responsibility," the Democrat said Tuesday during a news conference. "The Constitution says the states run their elections, and that bill makes that painfully re-clear to the federal government."
Federal seizure of ballots and election records is a growing concern
New Mexico Republicans, who are in the minority in the legislature, voted in unison against the bill.
"I would question strongly why we have to do this other than just to have to poke the president in the eye," state GOP Sen. Bill Sharer of Farmington said during floor debate.
State Sen. Katy Duhigg, an Albuquerque Democrat who was a co-sponsor of the legislation, said it's "better safe than sorry with democracy." She said she wanted to "make sure that there was some sort of tool that our local law enforcement would have at their disposal if something does happen, if the federal government does in some manner try to interfere with our elections."
Connecticut's bill, scheduled for a hearing later this week, also takes aim at federal attempts to seize ballots or other election material. It would require that state officials receive notification of such a move.
Blumenthal said state lawmakers can't prevent seizures such as the January search by the FBI on an election center in Fulton County, Georgia, a Democratic stronghold that includes Atlanta. But he said, "there might be an opportunity for our state attorney general's office or the secretary of the state's office to challenge that."
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Associated Press writer Oliva Diaz in Richmond, Virginia, and David A. Lieb in Jefferson City, Missouri, contributed. Haigh reported from Hartford, Connecticut.
New Mexico creates new state division to support immigrant workers - Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
New Mexico now officially has a division of state government to help immigrant workers and their employers do business in the state.
House Bill 124, which Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed into law Monday, transforms the existing Office of New Americans within the state’s Workforce Solutions Department into an official division. Doing so enshrines the division in state statute, qualifies it for recurring state funding and enables its leaders to plan long-term, Leonardo Castañeda, the office’s current director, told Source NM on Wednesday.
“Having the stability of saying, ‘We’re in statute, we will continue existing,’ helps send a good message to those employers and those workers,” he said. “We know immigration is a long-haul process, and we’re here for the long haul with them.”
The office launched within Workforce Solutions in 2024 and has relied on philanthropic donations to operate since then. In that time, the office has trained more than 400 businesses on federal immigration policy changes and established a partnership with the Mexican Consulate to ensure enforcement when Mexican workers’ rights are violated, according to the Workforce Solutions Department.
Castañeda said the new division’s work will be vital in a state where roughly 21% of the state’s agricultural workers and 24% of construction workers are immigrants, according to department data. Also, as the state increasingly woos high-tech, highly skilled industries like quantum computing, employers will need the division’s help securing visas for immigrant hirees, Castañeda said.
“If you want to be in quantum, you have to bring in the top scientists from around the world, which means going through an employment-based immigration process,” he said.
A coalition of immigrant advocacy groups included HB124, which five Democratic House representatives sponsored, in a suite of bills they called on the Legislature to pass to protect immigrants in the state from President Donald Trump’s mass deportation push.
When the Legislature sent the bill to the governor’s desk last month, the group — which includes the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico and El Centro de Igualdad y Derechos, among others — lauded the bill for making “immigrant workforce integration a permanent state strategy, rather than a temporary or political fix,” and said it “reflects a clear response to New Mexico’s economic reality,” citing the state’s stagnant population and labor shortages.
The bill goes into effect May 20.
Kirtland Air Force Base deploys Black Hawk to help rescue Taos County teen who fell in Rio Grande Gorge - John Miller, Albuquerque Journal
The Taos County Sheriff’s Office coordinated a multiagency rescue effort Monday evening for two local teenagers who became stranded in the Rio Grande Gorge after one of them suffered serious injuries in a fall near the river’s edge.
Sheriff Steve Miera said he and his deputies responded to a 911 call from a third teen, who had hiked out of the several-hundred foot canyon to report that his friend had fallen roughly 15 feet and couldn’t move. The second teen, he said, stayed behind to help the friend who had fallen.
The Taos County teens, males ages 18, 16, and 17, were wearing light windbreaker jackets and lacked cold weather gear, raising concerns among first responders that the two teens still below could be subject to hypothermia.
While first responders have performed rescues from the river in the past, Miera said the teen who called for help indicated his friend may have suffered pelvic and spinal injuries, requiring a helicopter to extract him safely from the Gorge.
Deputies deployed a drone with night vision and thermal capabilities, in conjunction with a Classic Air Medical helicopter, to locate the two teens in the canyon roughly a mile south of the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, upriver of a set of treacherous Class 3 rapids known locally as the “Box.”
“Based on the information that we received, the injured male that was at the bottom had suffered a pelvic injury, and potentially more than that,” Miera said. “So launching a raft was an absolute last, last resort.”
The sheriff’s office, in coordination with Taos Central Dispatch, asked for assistance from Kirtland U.S. Air Force Base, whose teams deployed a Black Hawk helicopter and flew to the Gorge, airlifting the two teens to the canyon rim, roughly 600 feet above.
The teen who fell was transported by ambulance to Holy Cross Medical Center, and was then airlifted to the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque.
Taos Fire Department, Taos County Fire and Rescue and Taos Search and Rescue also assisted in the rescue effort, which concluded around 2 a.m. Tuesday, Miera said.
“I would say this was a situation where some young individuals bit off more than they could chew,” the sheriff said. “They were unprepared, and fortunately, Taos County had the resources available to be able to successfully save their lives.”
The Gorge, a central feature of the federally designated Rio Grande del Norte National Monument, has been the site of numerous accidents and rescues over the years, including a California man who became stranded while hiking to hot springs there this fall.
The Rio Grande Gorge Bridge has also become the subject of an $8 million NMDOT project to build higher railings and replace sidewalks with lightweight materials in response to a spike in suicides there last year. The project is set to begin this summer.
Governor signs budget and tax package before deadline, but vetoes disaster response bill - Dan Boyd, Albuquerque Journal
In a busy end to her final bill-signing period, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed off Wednesday on an $11.1 billon spending plan and a tax package that includes hefty incentives for New Mexico physicians.
Lujan Grisham, who is set to step down from office at the end of this year, specifically cited investments in universal child care, public safety and health care as hallmarks of her administration.
“We’ve built a strong foundation of opportunity for New Mexico families, and while this budget marks a massive leap forward, our work is far from finished,” she said in a statement.
But the two-term governor used her line-item veto authority to ax some budget provisions, including language that child care assistance be prioritized for low-income families.
Lujan Grisham also vetoed two bills, including a measure changing the process for how the state responds to wildfires, floods and other natural disasters.
At a glance:
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham vetoed only three of the 74 bills approved this year by state legislators. Here are the three vetoed bills:
- House Bill 180 — Create a new process for funding natural disaster response efforts.
- House Bill 153 — Establish financial incentives for using low-carbon construction materials.
- House Bill 96* — Modify existing space commission working group.
(* means bill was pocket vetoed)
The governor, who authorized nearly $257 million in emergency spending in the last budget year, said the legislation, House Bill 180, would have made responding to natural disasters more difficult by imposing a cap on such spending without legislative approval.
Rep. Harlan Vincent, R-Glencoe, one of the sponsors of the bill, said he was disappointed by the governor’s veto, but expressed gratitude that $21 million in state matching funds for parts of New Mexico covered by federal disaster declarations was left in place in the budget bill.
He said the funding could be used to help relocate houses in the Ruidoso area after wildfires and subsequent flooding in the area over the last two years.
“I would feel much better if people were off the (Rio Ruidoso), and we could restore it back to its natural state,” Vincent told the Journal.
From a political perspective, the governor’s decision to leave largely intact the $11.1 billion budget bill that will increase state spending by about $339.5 million — or 3.1% — over current levels means no special session will likely be required before a new state fiscal year begins in July.
The governor vetoed about $21 million in proposed spending from the bill, including $1 million for a proposed sports hall of fame and an additional $500,000 from a proposed lowrider museum in Española.
As in past years, she also vetoed some budgetary language that sought to impose strict timelines and other restrictions on certain legislative appropriations.
Rep. Nathan Small, D-Las Cruces, said Wednesday the Legislature will work with the governor’s administration on implementing those appropriations, saying, “I think that’s an issue we’re going to dig deeply into.”
He also said the budget bill would set up New Mexico’s next governor for success, despite uncertainty over oil prices and state revenue levels.
“The new governor will come into office and will have the opportunity — and the responsibility — to hit the ground running,” Small told the Journal.
Tax package signed despite concerns
A year after vetoing a tax package passed by lawmakers, Lujan Grisham signed off on this year’s bill that includes a grab bag of tax breaks and policy changes.
Specifically, this year’s tax package, Senate Bill 151, includes a $10,000 personal income tax credit for physicians who practice full-time in the state and a $4 million annual tax credit for local news organizations.
It also includes a 1% salary increase for state workers and teachers, which was added to the bill by the state House after being removed in a Senate committee.
In her executive message to lawmakers, Lujan Grisham said she supports the pay raise for state employees — it will take effect on July 1 — but described it as an “odd” decision to include it in tax legislation.
“While I assume the Legislature did not want to create a logjam in the waning days of the 30-day session, rolling this provision into the tax bill created more confusion than necessary,” the governor wrote.
Lujan Grisham also expressed concern that a provision in the tax package to decouple parts of the state’s corporate income tax system from the federal tax code could lead to “double taxation” on some businesses.
But she did not strike out the provision from the tax bill, instead leaving it in place to take effect in January.
Vetoes at lowest level in years
In all, Lujan Grisham signed 71 of the 74 bills approved by lawmakers during the 30-day session that ended Feb. 19.
Of the three bills vetoed by the governor, one died under what’s known as a “pocket veto” when the governor did not act on it before the Wednesday bill-signing deadline. That bill would have modified an existing space commission working group.
The ability for governors to pocket veto bills could be eliminated starting next year, if state voters pass a proposed constitutional amendment on the issue in November.
Overall, however, the governor’s use of her veto pen was far less prolific than in previous years. Last year, for instance, Lujan Grisham vetoed 35 bills passed by lawmakers, including a proposal to make tortilla the official state bread.
NM U.S. Sen. Luján signs letter urging audit of Epstein file redactions - Joshua Bowling, Source New Mexico
U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) signed onto a letter with a bipartisan coalition of senators calling for an independent audit of how U.S. Department of Justice officials have redacted information in the public releases of documents related to infamous sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Luján joined U.S. Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) in the Wednesday letter to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. In it, the four write that the DOJ has not complied with the Epstein Files Transparency Act’s requirements to only redact information that would violate victims’ privacy or jeopardize national security.
“The law bars redactions made ‘on the basis of embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity, including to any government official, public figure, or foreign dignitary,’” the letter says. “Contrary to Congress’s explicit directive to protect victims, these records included email addresses and nude photos in which the names and faces of publicly-identified and non-public victims could be identified. But when it came to information identifying powerful business and political figures who are alleged coconspirators or material witnesses, DOJ appears to have heavily redacted those records.”
In the letter, the senators ask GAO officials to report back to Congress after investigating how many people were involved with redacting the files; whether DOJ “or other senior Trump Administration officials” offered any guidance to people tasked with making redactions; whether the DOJ used contractors for any of the redaction services; and whether any “political appointees” played a role in approving redactions or removing published records from the DOJ website.
“It is critical to understand what led to DOJ’s failure to redact the victims’ information and re-victimize those individuals while violating the Epstein Files Transparency Act in its redactions of information related to their alleged abusers,” the senators wrote.
Their correspondence comes just days after officials with state Attorney General Raúl Torrez’s New Mexico Department of Justice searched the former Zorro Ranch, the 7,500-acre property Epstein bought from former New Mexico Gov. Bruce King in the 1990s.