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.
Former Gov. Gary Johnson said that he “would absolutely have vetoed” the recently signed Arizona immigration bill if it had been put on his desk when he was governor. Johnson also called the bill “racial profiling.”
The law would allow Arizona police officers to ask for proof of legal status from anyone they have a “reasonable suspicion” is in the country illegally.
“The problem is that the federal government is not able to do its job, because the current laws are just not enforceable,” Johnson said in a statement. “I respect Arizona taking action, and I believe strongly in states’ rights. But this law is just not well grounded.”
Johnson, a libertarian Republican, said that he believes the crime around the borders is not because of illegal immigration, but because of drug trafficking.
“In addition to citizens being stripped of their rights and subjected to unfair searches, this law is ultimately unfair to law enforcement, who will be left to implement a law that although well intended, is misguided in its attempt to reduce border crime, and is bound to have undesirable consequences,” he said.
Vetoing a bill would have been nothing new for Johnson; he vetoed more than 750 bills in the eight years that he was governor of New Mexico.
Johnson is the honorary chairman of the OUR America Initiative and is rumored to be considering a run for president in 2012.
