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.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Susana Martinez told NMPolitics.net that she supports a path to legalization for those in the country illegally while Democratic gubernatorial candidate Diane Denish said she wasn’t sure about the best plan for those already in the country illegally.
“In my opinion, the solution does not rest with amnesty that rewards those who have broken the law with a special pathway to citizenship that allows them to cut to the front of the immigration line,” Martinez said in her statement to NMPolitics.net. “In principle, I believe we need a legal immigration process for those who are in this country now and wish to stay here that is practical, while at the same time does not invite the next wave of illegal immigrants. Simply legalizing every illegal immigrant in the country, as some have proposed, will only undermine our legal immigration process.”
Martinez’s stance may be in opposition to some of her campaign rhetoric during the primary campaign.
In a TV ad during the primary, Martinez accused Allen Weh of supporting “amnesty” because he had backed a Bush proposal that sounds strikingly similar to her plan that she put forward today.
Weh wrote in an opinion piece in the Albuquerque Journal about his support for President George W. Bush’s preferred immigration plan. “President Bush made a serious effort toward a bipartisan solution to our immigration dilemma before it came to a grinding stop due to partisan bickering,” Weh wrote. “As he does, I also favor a controlled guest worker program, and further favor finding a compassionate and equitable solution for the approximately 13 million illegal immigrants who have been working in this country for more than two years without committing any criminal acts.”
Heath Haussamen, editor of NMPolitics.net, told The Independent that he is asking for clarification on the differences bwetween Martinez’s statement and Weh’s stance on illegal immigrants already in the country.
Denish, meanwhile, said she does not have a solution but does think that more bipartisanship is needed.
“With regard to undocumented workers, I recognize the heightened passions that this issue inflames,” Denish told NMPolitics.net in a statement. “I frankly do not have an answer about what to do with the millions of undocumented immigrants already here. But I do believe the way we are approaching the debate so far is not conducive to creating reasoned public policy.”
Denish was unopposed in the Democratic primary.
The Washington Independent, two years ago, looked at what “back of the line” means when it comes to immigration, including the difficulties and potential problems of adding illegal immigrants to the end of the immigration line.
