Days after federal agents shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Jeffrey Pretti, New Mexico Democrats on Monday morning said they’ll continue to protect immigrants across the state. One representative called on the governor to demand an end to all U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations.
Rep. Sarah Silva (D-Las Cruces) in a Sunday afternoon statement called on Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to demand the federal government cease ICE operations and “de-escalate the situations we are seeing in Minnesota, New Mexico and other parts of the country.” In an interview with Source NM Monday, Silva said she was concerned that, without intervention, the Trump administration could similarly target New Mexico.
The U.S. Department of Justice in December sued New Mexico and five other states for allegedly failing to produce statewide voter registration lists. In Minnesota, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi in a letter to Gov. Tim Walz said state leaders could end the influx of federal agents, in part, by turning over voter data to the federal government.
“I am very concerned that New Mexico has already been targeted by the president with his comments around our Secretary of State and our voter rolls,” Silva said. “That, paired with Attorney General Bondi’s insistence that if Minnesota turns over their voter rolls, ICE will back off. That tells me that there’s a pattern that could put New Mexico next on the list.”
Lujan Grisham in a statement Sunday said she was “horrified by the killing of U.S. citizens by ICE agents in Minneapolis in recent days” and backed a statement from the Democratic Governors Association that said “these dangerous and reckless actions must come to an end.”
In an email to Source NM, a spokesperson for Lujan Grisham said the governor is not focused on “symbolic demands that the Trump administration will simply ignore.”
The governor, Communications Director Michael Coleman wrote, “has said repeatedly that she opposes the deployment of ICE for mass deportations that hurt families and our economy. She is deeply disturbed by what is transpiring on the streets of Minneapolis. The governor believes we need more a more humane and effective immigration strategy. Instead of making symbolic demands that the Trump administration will simply ignore, Gov. Lujan Grisham is focused on what we can actually control: protecting New Mexico families with financial support for immigration-related legal services, a ban on ICE detention facilities in New Mexico, and refusing to escalate dangerous situations.”
Silva also expressed optimism that criticisms of federal agents’ deadly use of force appear to be crossing party lines. She cited Chris Madel, a Minnesota attorney who on Monday posted a statement criticizing the wave of federal agents in Minneapolis and announced that he would no longer seek the state’s GOP nomination for governor.
As Silva left her office on the fourth floor of the Roundhouse, demonstrators gathered on the western steps of the Capitol building for Immigrant and Workers Day of Action. A bundled-up crowd waved pro-immigrant picket signs as the wind chill hovered in the high teens. New Mexico House Speaker Javier Martínez (D-Albuquerque) addressed the crowd with a promise to look out for immigrants in New Mexico, in part by passing House Bill 9, known as the Immigrant Safety Act, which would ban New Mexico counties and towns from signing onto immigration detention contracts.
“I will shout from the rooftops and demand that the federal government do the right thing. And I will also work like hell to make sure that every single policy passing is focused on…the rights of the least amongst us,” Martínez told Source NM.
He said he would happily back Silva’s call on the governor to act and said he hopes his constituents know that regarding the federal government’s immigration crackdowns, there is “no room in our state and there’s no room in this country for that type of hate.”
Nationally, some Republicans have called for an investigation into Pretti’s killing. In New Mexico, Senate Minority Leader Bill Sharer (R-Farmington) in an interview with Source NM said that “having somebody killed for any reason is tragic,” and said he believes “any death,” including those involving law enforcement officers, ought to be investigated. However, he said he doesn’t think people would die while protesting ICE if it weren’t for “organized rallies to interfere with their operations.”
“Why are people at risk today? Because we’ve got elected officials that are telling people to go out there and interfere with law enforcement,” he said. “They have a right to protest, I’m not saying that. But when you go out of your way to create a mob, that’s what causes problems.”
State Fair transformation project returns to LegislatureLawmakers on the Senate Finance Committee on Monday morning had their first chance to weigh in on a massive State Fair grounds transformation project the Legislature set in motion last session.
The project has drawn widespread interest because it could move the New Mexico State Fair from its home of nearly 90 years and make way for proposed developments, including a new amphitheater, affordable housing and a public park. The potential benefits the investment could bring to the nearby International District, which has long been beleaguered by high rates of pedestrian deaths, crime and drug addiction, have also drawn particular interest.
Lawmakers this session will be asked to approve $92 million in bonds that will go toward acquiring property at the southeast end of the fairgrounds, as well as projects to improve pedestrian safety at two intersections. The legislation lawmakers approved last year empowers the board to issue up to $500 million in bonds for the transformation project.
Republicans, including Sens. Steve Lanier of Aztec and Nicole Tobiassen of Albuquerque, urged presenters to bear in mind the cultural importance of the fair, particularly to rural farmers and kids in the 4-H program.
Former Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez, who is spearheading the project on behalf of the governor, stressed that no decisions have been made thus far about the fair’s future.
“These are things we call ‘move-agnostic,’ Chavez said of the changes made possible through the bonds. “The issue of whether the fair goes or stays — a decision is not made. And that’s going to be a fun one for everybody involved.”
65 years in the makingIn 1961 — while John F. Kennedy was being sworn in as president and the Beatles were playing their first show under that name at the Cavern Club in Liverpool — the State Legislature established the first University of New Mexico School of Medicine.
The Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee on Monday reviewed a measure, Senate Bill 6, to build a new UNM School of Medicine that would allow the school, which currently produces about 40% of the state’s practicing physicians, to double its enrollment. Lujan Grisham labeled that growth a priority in her State of the State address earlier in January.
Looking aheadThe House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee is scheduled on Tuesday afternoon to review four public safety bills, including House Bill 25. If enacted, HB25 would ban the sale or possession of a gun by an adult who was charged or sentenced for using a gun during a crime before they were 18, even if the person were not sentenced as an adult. Additionally, juvenile crime records involving firearms, which are typically sealed, would be available to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the instant background check database.
Tuesday is Future Farmers of America Day at the Roundhouse. Agriculture serves as a major economic driver for the state — in 2023, the state’s agricultural industries produced nearly $4 billion of economic output, according to one report. What drives that economic engine? According to that same report, chiles and pecans.
