Governor’s inaction exposes New Mexico’s border
Recently, most of the Republican caucus of the New Mexico House of Representatives met with many New Mexico sheriffs and representatives of the United States Border Patrol.
Security on our southern border issue — including the flood of fentanyl coming into the United States — is not a partisan political issue. This is an American issue. Fentanyl kills as many Republicans as it does Democrats. We must get over the politics of this.
To say we were alarmed would be an understatement. The United States is in peril. We are being invaded by the unknown in some cases and the known in most cases, but we know it is an orchestrated invasion. This “operation invasion” is a coordinated effort of the cartels operating on both sides of the border. We know our law enforcement personnel are intercepting and returning many known criminals. We now know we are intercepting less than half of the criminals who are entering our country. We know many are single adult males, that human trafficking is rampant, hundreds of pounds of illegal drugs are entering our country and over 100,000 Americans have recently died because of fentanyl. We know young children are being abused and sex trafficking is widespread. We know Texas, California and Arizona have responded to the coordinated invasion. And finally, we know the New Mexico border is the weak link in the chain. So do the cartels, and they exploit this weakness daily.
The problem in New Mexico hasn’t been solved — it hasn’t even been addressed. Instead, it has been ignored all while New Mexicans are, in some instances, dying. That’s a strong statement, but it is true. We honestly believe the governor of New Mexico is not performing her duties to protect her constituents. In fact, she is intentionally ignoring the deadly impacts. That is another strong statement, but, again, we believe it is true.
New Mexico State Police officers have been handcuffed by politics at the cost of New Mexicans by their chief executive, it seems. The sheriffs and the Border Patrol say the New Mexico State Police are doing little to help
with the border crisis because they work for the governor. Sheriffs and Border Patrol officers say they have been told state police officers have been instructed not to assist them.
That’s in contrast to Mark Daniels, the sheriff of Cochise County in Arizona. He is a man with a plan. Our New Mexico sheriffs can replicate his successful plan — they want to protect their constituents, and he is willing to help. They are sick, and we mean sick, of watching their compadres in the Border Patrol be overrun and undocumented individuals released into communities. The sheriffs know most individuals released won’t return for a hearing. That’s as likely as Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham coming to their rescue. The border is the single most concerning issue in New Mexico, and we believe the governor has been AWOL.
Other governors have worked to stop people from crossing the border, even Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, another Democrat. Why can’t our governor? It isn’t because New Mexicans oppose it; it isn’t because we can’t afford it. Is it because she is philosophically opposed? I don’t know the answer to that, but I do know what is going on at our southern border is an organized crime effort. People are dying, and we are not acting. That is unacceptable.
Securing the border is not an anti-immigrant issue. This is a humanitarian issue, a true public health/safety issue. The criminals in the cartels are making millions of dollars. Migrants are dying. They are being deprived of water and nutrition purposely so they collapse as they leave stash houses on the Mexican side to provide a diversion.
At the Santa Teresa Border Patrol station, which covers 55 miles of the border, there have been more than 42,000 migrants who “got away” this year alone (in 2023, the number exceeded 137,000). Cartels charge between $5,000 to $8,000 per individual. That calculates to over $650 million in human-trafficking profit to the cartels.
We are dedicated to fixing this problem and intend to address it with legislation during the upcoming special session and 60-day session. We hope the governor will work with us during the special session in July to immediately address this catastrophe. Our ignoring the issue has put millions of dollars in the hands of the cartels. Our ignoring the situation has enhanced the value of the cartel’s operations. Our ignoring the situation has cost thousands of lives in America. We must not allow this to continue.
GOP Reps. Jim Townsend and Randall Pettigrew serve in the New Mexico House of Representantives. Townsend — running unopposed for the state Senate — represents District 54, made up of Chaves, Otero and Eddy counties, while Pettigrew hails from District 61 in Lea County.