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.
After watching businesses in their neighboring states profit for years, businesspeople and officials along the Mexico-New Mexico border impressed it upon their beltway representatives that they, too, finally wanted to cash in on what has not been coming their way.…
The Associated Press reports the federal government is telling gun sellers in border states that they must report anyone who has purchased two high-powered rifles within a five day period.
The guidelines affect New Mexico, California, Arizona, and Texas.
The…
New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez acknowledged that her grandparents came to the U.S. without documents in an interview with Univision Albuquerque affiliate KLUZ-TV.
“I know they arrived without documents, especially my father’s father,” she said.
Antonio Diaz Chacon, 23, who gained national headlines for chasing down a kidnapper to save a six-year old girl in Albuquerque last week, told the media that he is an illegal immigrant.
The Roman Catholic Bishops of New Mexico support the current driver’s license law allowing foreign nationals to obtain a driver’s license with New Mexico residency, and oppose Gov. Susana Martinez’ push to change the law.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement sent out letters to 39 governors Friday, terminating all existing Memoranda of Agreement between states and ICE for the Secure Communities program, which shares fingerprints collected by state and local law enforcement to deport criminals.
An analysis by the Transactional Records Clearinghouse at Syracuse University shows that two immigration judges in El Paso, Tex., have a much higher denial rate than the national average. El Paso borders Juarez, Mexico, a city known for its out-of-control drug violence; there have been about 1,220 homicides this year, while there were 3,100 in 2010.
The United States deported a record of nearly 393,000 people in the fiscal year ending September 30, according to statistics (pdf) from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). About half were deported for criminal convictions, while the other half were deported for “non-criminal immigration violations.”
Gov. Susana Martinez ordered the Motor Vehicle Department to send out 10,000 letters to the estimated 85,000 foreign nationals who have New Mexico Driver’s Licenses but no Social Security numbers, asking them to to prove they still live in the state.
While parts of the Georgia immigration law haven’t taken effect because of a federal injunction, one did on July 1: Use false identification for a job and receive up to 15 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine. The offense is called “aggravated identity fraud.”
Gov. Susana Martinez directed Taxation & Revenue Department and Motor Vehicle Department officials to begin the administrative process of tightening requirements for driver’s licenses, according to a press release from her office. Martinez hopes to implement the recommendations by the end of July.
Jose Antonio Vargas, who wrote for the Washington Post and shared a Pulitzer Prize for the paper’s coverage of the Virginia Tech shootings, came out as an undocumented immigrant in a New York Times Magazine story that went live this morning.
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) appeared on the Today Show Tuesday morning and was asked about his comments Saturday that there was “substantial evidence” that some forest fires had been started by illegal immigrants. A Forest Service spokesman told ABC News that there was “no evidence” for McCain’s claim.
“First of all we are concerned particularly about areas down on the border where there is substantial evidence that some of these fires are caused by people who have crossed our border illegally,” John McCain said in a statement contracticted by the U.S. Forest Service. “They have set fires because they want to signal others; they have set fires to keep warm; and they have set fires in order to divert law enforcement agents and agencies from them. So the answer to that part of the problem is: get a secure border.”
President Barack Obama called for immigration reform, including a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, in a speech in El Paso, Texas, on Tuesday. It was Obama’s first trip to the border as president.
Former Democrat, and now independent, Andy Nuñez, I-Hatch, will carry Gov. Susana Martinez’s legislation that would revoke driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants. The bill will be a committee substitute of a bill that Nuñez was already sponsoring, one that would require a valid Social Security number to receive a driver’s license in New Mexico.
The League of United Latin American Citizens is denying a claim by U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., that its members supported repealing birthright citizenship. Some Republicans have supported a law that would end giving citizenship to those born on United States soil unless the parents are citizens or permanent legal residents.
Democratic legislatures showed opposition to an executive order by Gov. Susana Martinez that orders police to question the immigration status of all criminal suspects. Democratic legislators from the House and Senate held a press conference on Thursday criticizing the executive order, saying it would lead to racial profiling against Hispanics.
Governor Susana Martinez issued an executive order Monday that directs police to question the immigration status of all criminal suspects. The order says police are not to ask victims or witnesses about their immigration status. Martinez says this will end a “sanctuary” policy that was put into effect by former governor Bill Richardson in 2005.
