I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
A wide-ranging group of advocates and community-based organizations released a statement yesterday expressing “outrage” that Albuquerque mayoral candidate Richard Berry and the state Republican party are attempting to connect the violent take-over of a packed Denny’s restaurant last week, which led to one death, to the city’s non-discrimination policies regarding the treatment of immigrants.
Here are the statements of the New Mexico Conference of Churches, the Hispanic Ministries for the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, the Albuquerque Partnership, El Centro de Igualdad y Derechos, the New Mexico Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and other advocacy organizations.
“At a time when we should be coming together to morn the tragic death of a community member, it is unfortunate that there are those who would use this issue to further a political agenda,” said Barbara Dua, executive director of the statewide New Mexico Conference of Churches. “This is a time for us to unite, not be divided by fear mongering.”
Deacon Juan Barajas, director of Hispanic Ministries for the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, said, “Incidents like this actually point to the need to keep current policies so that limited resources can be focused on those few who do put our community at risk, not on targeting hard working families who share are American values.”
Adrian Pedroza, executive director of the Albuquerque Partnership, a Latino-led advocacy-based coalition, added, “These individuals acted alone and do not represent our community and they must be held accountable. Campaigns like this have had a chilling impact on Hispanic/Latino communities across the country, resulting in increased discrimination, hate crimes, and racial profiling.”
Rachel LaZar, executive director of El Centro de Igualdad y Derechos, a local immigrant rights’ organization, pointed to “ misinformation” that, according to her, is being proliferated regarding current policies.
“There are no sanctuary cities in New Mexico,” LaZar said. “What we do have in Albuquerque are policies that are conducive to community policing, public safety and that foment integration and inclusiveness. There is nothing in current policies that tie the hands of the police from arresting anyone, regardless of immigration status, who commits a crime and threatens public safety nor prevents or discourages the police from collaborating with Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) when it is pertinent to case. In addition, ICE has a permanent presence in our local jail.”
Finally, Lynn Rosenthal, executive director of the New Mexico Coalition Against Domestic Violence, said, “Our fear is that all victims of crime, regardless of their immigration status, need to be able to come forward to report those crimes to law enforcement. If folks in the community feel as if our local police are doing the work of immigration officials it would discourage a victim of crime from coming forward.”
