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.
Google contributed $41 million in economic activity in New Mexico last year, according to a 62-page report the tech giant released this week.
That number includes more than $500,000 donated to 10 nonprofits and what it says was $40…
The 1-cent sales tax hike passed Tuesday by Arizona voters is expected to raise $918 million in its first year. But it’s nowhere near enough to pull Arizona out of its economic problems, reports the Associated Press.
That news just…
How do next-door neighbors that share a history — both were ceded by Mexico to the U.S. in the 19th century — arrive at vastly different conclusions on the same issue? The Independent posed that question to several university professors and got some interesting answers.
Two New Mexicans have joined a federal lawsuit that seeks to stop Arizona’s tough new immigration law from taking effect in July. Jesús Cuauhtémoc Villa and Vicki Gaubeca of Las Cruces, two of more than a dozen plaintiffs, said they joined the legal challenge because they said they travel back and forth between the two states and are concerned about being pulled over by Arizona police officers, they told The Independent.
The hot-running emotions surrounding the national debate over Arizona’s tough immigration law have had an unexpected effect in Utah, the Grand Canyon state’s northern neighbor.
Gov. Gary Herbert just called off plans for a special session to dilute a just-passed…
The city of Angels became the largest U.S. city to officially protest Arizona’s tough immigration law when the city council there voted to ban most city travel to its neighboring state, the Los Angeles Times tells us.
LA joins…
Ariz. Gov. Jan Brewer signed into law Tuesday legislation that appears to target an ethnic studies program in Tuscon school district, the Associated Press is reporting.
The law would prohibit classes “that advocate ethnic solidarity, that are designed primarily…
The New York Times compared the attitudes of New Mexico and Arizona when it comes to immigration, and finds New Mexico much more open and tolerant. For instance, a new law in Arizona directs police to check drivers licenses and…
The end of the U.S.-Mexico border fence in California (Photo by Bisayan lady/Flickr)
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer cited “border violence and crime due to illegal immigration” as motivations for signing a controversial law requiring people in Arizona to carry proof that they are in the U.S. legally.
But FBI and U.S. Department of Justice data show that Arizona’s violent crime rate is lower than the U.S. average and has been declining more rapidly than the U.S. average, The Independent found.
Despite a growing population, violent crime rates dropped sharply in Arizona between 2002 and 2008, the latest year for which complete federal crime data are available online.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics, Arizona’s population-adjusted violent crime rate dropped from 555 reported incidents per 100,000 people in 2002 to 447 per 100,000 in 2008.
That 19.5 percent decline was much more pronounced than the U.S. average during the same time period, The Independent found.
Nationwide, the violent crime rate dropped by 7.9 percent, from 494 violent crimes per 100,000 population in 2002 to 455 in 2008, The Independent found.
New Mexico saw a 12 percent decline in violent crimes between 2002 and 2008, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics database.
But at nearly 650 violent crimes per 100,000 people in 2008, New Mexico’s crime rate was considerably higher than both Arizona’s and the U.S. average.
Reports by the nonpartisan Immigration Policy Center and libertarian CATO Institute both indicate crime rates fell in Arizona over the past decade.
Census data show that overall, immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than U.S.-born people, according to both institutes.
ICE officials did not return The Independent’s calls Monday, requesting illegal immigration statistics for New Mexico, Arizona and Texas.
Gov. Bill Richardson has directed the New Mexico Human Rights Division to assist any New Mexicans who are worried about traveling to Arizona in light of the controversial, recently-signed immigration law. The office could help New Mexicans by “giving them…
Reps. Harry Teague, Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Lujan all told The Independent they oppose the newly-signed Arizona law, calling it racial profiling and an breach of individual privacy rights. The three also said that the law shows the need…
A poll by Gallup Polling shows that Americans who have heard or read about the new Arizona law are supportive of the bill, although that support is sharply split along partisan lines. It also finds that nearly a third…
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 recently passed Arizona immigration law shows “Congress needs to pass comprehensive immigration reform, Sen. Tom Udall told New Mexico radio reporters Tuesday.
After Arizona’s Republican Governor, Jan Brewer, signed the nation’s strictest anti-immigration law, New Mexico GOP gubernatorial hopefuls mostly expressed support for the decision, but stopped short of fully endorsing the law.
The sole Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Diane Denish, already…
Lt. Gov., and gubernatorial candidate, Diane Denish denounced the recently-signed Arizona immigration law, calling it “racial profiling” and says that it goes “too far.” The law would allow police officers to ask anyone about their immigration status as long as…
Arizona governor Jan Brewer signed into law a bill that would allow authorities to ask anyone who they suspect of being in the country illegally to prove their immigration status.
A new Arizona law will allow folks 21 and older to carry concealed weapons without needing a permit from the state first. But that doesn’t mean New Mexico should follow Arizona’s lead, said Sen. George Muñoz, D-Gallup, who was…
Businesses in California, Hawaii, even Georgia, are responding to Friday furlough days for state workers by offering discounts and other benefits, according to the Wall Street Journal. The paper calls it an unintended benefit of furlough days. Well, we’ll…
As Stateline.org notes, many states are struggling with funding gaps in their pension systems. Illinois has perhaps the worst unfunded pension liability in the nation, reports National Public Radio. Others states, including New Mexico, are talking about ways to close…
