NM needs to protect border, support our federal agencies
There is a lot of rhetoric thrown around when it comes to securing our border, so I’ll cut to the chase. We don’t need more fancy task forces that will inevitably morph into another bureaucratic money pit to solve this problem. Instead, we need a governor who will do whatever it takes to support the Border Patrol’s plan to secure the border. We must remove the handcuffs placed on state, county and local law enforcement officers so they can do their job.
When Joe Biden and Michelle Lujan Grisham opened our border, ended President Trump’s Remain in Mexico policy and stopped border wall construction, we knew it would spell disaster for our state. Nobody could imagine it would get this bad.
By halting the implementation of the Border Patrol’s request, which included building the wall and installing technology so it can monitor incidents in real time, and by allowing migrants free access to cross our border, liberals in Washington and Santa
Fe empowered the cartels. Our border agents are stuck providing comfort and care, while dangerous criminals and drug smugglers are taking advantage of their flawed plan. Many on the left would call opening our border compassionate, but they turn a blind eye to the humanitarian crisis going on at our front door. Since January 2021, we have seen a record number of illegal crossings, fentanyl freely flowing across our border, and countless women and children routinely abused during these dangerous treks.
I have many friends who ranch on our southern border. It’s common for them to find trash thrown across their property by desperate travelers, have their waterlines and fences cut, and even stumble upon dead bodies. These ranchers fear for the safety of their families and livelihoods as they’ve watched firsthand as our southern border turned from secure to lawless with Joe Biden taking over.
Ranchers are even told to abandon land their families have owned for generations if they don’t feel safe. That’s not what we do in New Mexico. When I’m governor, we will stand our ground and enable the agencies that are already in place to do their jobs.
I’m calling for renewed investment in law enforcement tasked with defending our border. We must improve sensor technology along with the quality of border roads with access to the key points so law enforcement can respond in a quick and safe manner to illegal crossings. The cartels recruit nonstop, so we need fully staffed law enforcement and federal agencies in order to place enough agents in the field to keep up with the crossings. At the very least, we need a governor willing to stand by these brave officers when so many on the left have sold them out.
On Day One as governor, I will deploy the National Guard to the border that MLG removed, partner with federal agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement, work tirelessly to finish President Trump’s wall, and promote an America First agenda that protects all New Mexicans.