New Mexico has sued a local county sheriff’s office to force officers to enforce heavy-handed health mandates put in place because of the coronavirus.
New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas filed the <a href="https://www.hobbsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/2020-07-29-Hobbs-Emergency-Verified-Petition-for-Writ-of-Mandamus.pdf">lawsuit</a> in the New Mexico Supreme Court on Wednesday, targeting the Lea County Sheriff’s Office and Lea County Sheriff Corey Helton. The suit requests a Writ of Mandamus to force Helton and his officers to enforce the state’s health mandates against restaurants that are in violation of a ban on indoor dining.
The state’s court filing says:
<blockquote>Despite the spike in new cases, Respondent Corey Helton, the Sheriff of Lea County, and his deputies have requested that restaurants open their facilities in violation of the State’s public health emergency orders. According to television reports, the Sheriff’s Office patronized local restaurants that have opened despite public health orders, and that are operating without a valid food service permit. These actions of Sheriff Helton and the Lea County Sheriff’s Office (“LCSO”) threaten to further propel the spread of COVID-19 in Lea County and across New Mexico. Not only does this risk the health and lives of New Mexicans, but it also makes it more likely that school and business closures will need to be prolonged undermining the Sheriff’s purported purpose of supporting local businesses. Additionally, the LCSO’s actions misleadingly and unlawfully communicate to the public that they should not follow the State’s directives to maintain social distancing and close certain businesses, including indoor dining.</blockquote>
The state’s action is part of an escalating feud between Santa Fe and Lea County officials, business owners, and others who are flaunting Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s health mandates. Grisham re-imposed strict health orders, including a second ban on indoor dining, in early July after easing initial lockdown orders instituted after the outbreak of the coronavirus in March.
The sheriff’s office responded to the lawsuit in a statement Thursday.
“The Attorney General of the State of New Mexico and the Governor have filed this writ in the New Mexico Supreme Court to compel this office to enforce her mandates that are associated with the public health emergency orders and her executive orders. The writ has not been ruled on by the NMSC; therefore, it is not in effect,” the sheriff’s office said.
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<blockquote cite="https://www.facebook.com/Lea.County.Sheriff.Office/posts/2716108748488826" class="fb-xfbml-parse-ignore">
The Lea County Sheriff&#039;s Office releases this statement in response to the Writ of Mandamus filed in the New Mexico&#8230;
Posted by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Lea.County.Sheriff.Office/">Lea County Sheriff&#039;s Office</a> on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/Lea.County.Sheriff.Office/posts/2716108748488826">Thursday, July 30, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Some businesses in Lea County and across the state have refused to go back into lockdown. The lawsuit says the Helton has dined in, and encouraged others to dine in, restaurants that have had their health licenses revoked by the state for violating health mandates.
The sheriff’s office has posted several instances on Facebook of deputies sitting down and eating at restaurants that have refused to obey Grisham’s latest health order.
&#8220;#heyleacounty ! Do not be alarmed when you see LCSO Deputies enter local restaurants. We’re not there to enforce the Governor’s mandate. We’re there to grab a bite and support our local businesses!&#8221; the sheriff’s office Facebook page posted on July 21.
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#heyleacounty ! Do not be alarmed when you see LCSO Deputies enter local restaurants. We’re not there to enforce the Governor’s mandate. We’re there to grab a bite and support our local businesses!
Posted by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Lea.County.Sheriff.Office/">Lea County Sheriff&#039;s Office</a> on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/Lea.County.Sheriff.Office/photos/a.673109072788814/2691307827635585/?type=3">Tuesday, July 21, 2020</a></blockquote>
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One of the Lea County businesses that has been targeted by Grisham, the Pizza Inn of Hobbs, also shared a photo thanking local law enforcement for their support. Michael Moore, the owner of the Hobbs Pizza Inn, said in a July 18 <a href="https://www.facebook.com/foxandfriends/videos/1618047435016786">interview</a> on Fox News that he was forced to violate Grisham’s health mandate or lay off a third of his employees.
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Lea County Sheriff Regional SWAT Team standing with us! 🇺🇸❤️🍕
Posted by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/PizzaInnHobbsNM/">Pizza Inn</a> on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/PizzaInnHobbsNM/posts/3137295016385553">Tuesday, July 21, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Michelle Lujan Grisham

Sheriff Remains Defiant After New Mexico Governor Sues To Enforce Coronavirus Lockdown

Coronavirus

New Mexico

Santa Fe

Back in March, Steve Jackson, who owns the Country Family Restaurant in Kirtland, New Mexico, put a sign on his restaurant that read: “CLOSED you can thank CHINA!”
The sign, clearly meant to signal that the coronavirus pandemic, which shut down businesses across the United States, came from China. The sign was shared on social media, leading to a backlash against Jackson and his restaurant for alleged bigotry. Jackson was accused of being a bigot, and a few members of the Navajo Nation tried to start a boycott of his restaurant.
Jackson <a href="https://www.daily-times.com/story/news/local/2020/03/27/kirtland-restaurant-owner-steve-jackson-denying-charges-racism/2923214001/">told the Farmington Daily Times</a> in March that the sign was misinterpreted.
“I stuck up that little-bitty sign that explained my thoughts about the communist Chinese government and the way they treat their people,” Jackson told the outlet.
He then put up a different sign that read: “CLOSED you can thank the CHINESE GOVERNMENT (Look it up),” but that didn’t stop the backlash.
Peter Deswood, the principal of a school in Farmington, claimed Jackson’s sign amounted to “microaggressions that happen to minority people.”
&#8220;I&#8217;ve seen that kind of behavior in this area. And if a significant amount of your customers are minority people, you can&#8217;t talk like that,&#8221; Deswood added.
Jackson, however, stood by his sign.
&#8220;We have no reason to apologize for anything,&#8221; he said. &#8220;If you&#8217;re a communist sympathizer, I can&#8217;t help you. But none of these people (who have complained about the sign) ever contacted me and asked me what I think.&#8221;
Four months later, and Jackson’s restaurant has had its food service permit suspended, Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/food-drink/new-mexico-restaurant-suspended-food-permit-coronavirus-sign">reported</a>, for allegedly violating coronavirus restrictions. The Associated Press <a href="https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/new-mexico-restaurant-in-sign-flap-gets-permit-suspended/5809203/">reported</a> that the New Mexico Environment Department suspended the permit for violating statewide health orders that prohibit indoor dining and require restaurant workers to wear masks.
Jackson <a href="https://www.daily-times.com/story/money/business/2020/07/23/covid-new-mexico-kirtland-restaurant-food-permit-suspended-indoor-dining/5498105002/">told</a> the Farmington Daily Times that he didn’t intend to defy the state health orders, but felt he had to in order to continue operating his business and employing his workers. The outlet further reported that Jackson kept offering indoor dining even though Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM) ordered restaurants to stop doing so.
Jackson told the outlet he had done everything he could to keep his business open while keeping customers and staff safe, adding that the state had not shown him any proof that indoor dining increases the spread of the coronavirus.
More from the Daily Times:
<blockquote>State environment Cabinet Secretary James Kenney said in a July 14 statement that 15% of all “rapid responses” for COVID-19 from the previous week came from an employee testing positive at a restaurant.
As owner of the restaurant, Jackson said the livelihood of his family was impacted by closing indoor dining as their income came from the business.
The business did receive a Paycheck Protection Program loan, but the money went to items including paychecks and utility payments, Jackson said.
There was no money left for the business owner to pay for their groceries and make house payments, according to Jackson.</blockquote>
As the Daily Times reported, nine restaurants in New Mexico have had their “food service permits suspended since July 14, a day after public health restrictions were re-implemented which prohibited indoor dining in restaurants.” Of those nine restaurants, four have been in San Juan County, including Jackson’s restaurant.
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Outdoor dining

Restaurant’s Food Permit Suspended For Allegedly Violating Coronavirus Restrictions Months After Owner Put Up Sign Blaming China For Virus

COVID-19

Health

restaurants

A 26-year-old Border Patrol agent was found dead on a remote trail in New Mexico’s Hidalgo County last week.
Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/border-patrol-agent-26-found-dead-along-new-mexico-trail">reported</a> that Johan Mordan was found “unresponsive lying on a trail” after other Customs and Border Protection officials went looking for him when they lost contact with the young agent. It is unclear what caused Mordan’s death and an autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death. CBP officials issued a press release Saturday regarding Mordan’s death:
<blockquote>On Thursday, June 11, 2020, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Border Patrol Agent (BPA) Johan Mordan of the Lordsburg Station was working in the remote boot heel area of New Mexico when agents lost communications with him.
A search ensued and, within minutes, responding agents found BPA Mordan unresponsive lying on a trail.  Agents immediately began CPR (chest compressions) and air support was requested for extraction.
Agents worked exhaustedly trying to save him, unfortunately BPA Mordan could not be revived.  All proper notifications and investigative protocols have been initiated.
BPA Mordan entered on duty with CBP and the U.S. Border Patrol on July 8, 2019, as a member of Session 1127 and was 26 years old at the time of his death. An autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of death.</blockquote>
CBP Acting Commissioner Mark Morgan also released a statement on Twitter announcing Mordan’s death.
“It is with great sadness that we mourn the loss of Border Patrol Agent Johan Mordan of El Paso Sector. He served his country and community with honor. Our thoughts are with his loved ones and the entire Border Patrol community during this time,” Morgan tweeted.
In another tweet, El Paso Sector Border Patrol Chief Gloria I. Chavez said: &#8220;We will forever honor your sacrifice Johan &#8211; We Will Never Forget.&#8221;
“Today, the entire <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ElPaso?src=hash">#ElPaso</a> Sector mourns the loss of one of our Border Patrol Agents from the Lordsburg Station who died while on duty last night. Our thoughts &amp; prayers are with family, friends, and the men &amp; women who served with him,” she also tweeted.
KVIA <a href="https://kvia.com/news/border/2020/06/13/border-patrol-agent-from-el-paso-sector-found-dead-along-remote-new-mexico-trail/">reported</a> that “Mordan was the second border agent from the El Paso sector to die this year while on duty in the boot heel area of New Mexico.”
“In January, 48-year-old Alfredo Nino was found unresponsive at a remote outpost in Animas,” the outlet continued.
KTSM <a href="https://www.ktsm.com/news/nm-border-agent-dies-in-the-line-of-duty-sector-chief-says/">reported</a> that Nino had worked out of the Santa Teresa Station. It is unclear what lead to his death.
The CBP keeps track of those who have <a href="https://www.cbp.gov/about/in-memoriam/memoriam-those-who-died-line-duty">died in the line of duty</a>. So far in 2020, four other border patrol agents have died in the line of duty – yet all four of them died due to contracting the coronavirus while working.
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Border Wall

Border Patrol Agent Found Dead On Remote Trail In New Mexico

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Valerie Plame, the former CIA operative who was outed during the George W. Bush administration, has lost her bid to become a congresswoman after losing Tuesday night to attorney Teresa Leger Fernandez in the New Mexico Democratic primary.
Plame announced her candidacy in September 2019, The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/democrat-valerie-plame-launches-congressional-bid-ryan-saavedra">reported</a>, in an attempt to fill a vacancy left by Rep. Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), who decided to run for the Senate to replace Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM), who retired. Plame originally said she would run for Senate to replace Udall, but changed her mind for a congressional bid.
Plame used her fame from being outed in 2003 in an op-ed citing Bush administration officials to launch her candidacy. Her announcement video, however, was riddled with falsehoods, including her suggestions that she operated in Iran and North Korea and that Scooter Libby was responsible for her outing. Her opening ad also made it clear she was running because she had “a few scores to settle.”
Plame’s candidacy was plagued by accusations of racism and anti-Semitism. In 2017 – two years before announcing her candidacy – Plame resigned from her position on the board of Ploughshares Fund after retweeting an article blaming Jews for America’s wars, The Daily Wire’s Frank Camp previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/valerie-plame-resigns-and-apologizes-after-frank-camp">reported</a>. After a backlash, Plame defended her tweet, writing:
<blockquote>First of all, calm down. Re-tweets don’t imply endorsement. Yes, very provocative, but thoughtful. Many neocon hawks ARE Jewish. Just FYI, I am of Jewish decent. I am not in favor of war with Iran, or getting out of the Iran nuclear treaty. There are simply too many who are so ready to go to war. Haven’t we had enough for awhile? Read the entire article and try, just for a moment, to put aside your biases and think clearly.</blockquote>
The statement didn’t help, so Plame tweeted a second response before resigning:
<blockquote>OK folks, look, I messed up. I skimmed this piece, zeroed in on the neocon criticism, and shared it without seeing and considering the rest. … I’m not perfect and make mistakes. This was a doozy. All I can do is admit them, try to be better, and read more thoroughly next time. Ugh.</blockquote>
During her candidacy, left-wing media outlets either ignored or downplayed Plame’s racism and anti-Semitism. National Review’s Jim Geraghty <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/valerie-plame-congressional-campaign-new-mexico/">outlined</a> her issues after she launched he campaign:
<blockquote>She repeated an urban legend about dancing Israelis sighted after 9/11 and an article touting “Israeli fingerprints all over the place” in the investigation of the worst terror attack in American history. She shared an article entitled “Why I Still Dislike Israel” that laments the “Israel Lobby electing and controlling a malleable congress [sic] and increasingly even officials at state and local levels.” She commented that Natalie Portman was a fine choice to play a young Ruth Bader Ginsburg because “they are both Jewish.” (By itself, that’s a harmless comment, but in the context of the other ones, Plame seems particularly focused on knowing who’s Jewish and who isn’t.)</blockquote>
Fox News <a href="She%20repeated%20an%20urban%20legend%20about%20dancing%20Israelis%20sighted%20after%209/11%20and%20an%20article%20touting%20“Israeli%20fingerprints%20all%20over%20the%20place”%20in%20the%20investigation%20of%20the%20worst%20terror%20attack%20in%20American%20history.%20She%20shared%20an%20article%20entitled%20“Why%20I%20Still%20Dislike%20Israel”%20that%20laments%20the%20“Israel%20Lobby%20electing%20and%20controlling%20a%20malleable%20congress%20%5bsic%5d%20and%20increasingly%20even%20officials%20at%20state%20and%20local%20levels.”%20She%20commented%20that%20Natalie%20Portman%20was%20a%20fine%20choice%20to%20play%20a%20young%20Ruth%20Bader%20Ginsburg%20because%20“they%20are%20both%20Jewish.”%20(By%20itself,%20that’s%20a%20harmless%20comment,%20but%20in%20the%20context%20of%20the%20other%20ones,%20Plame%20seems%20particularly%20focused%20on%20knowing%20who’s%20Jewish%20and%20who%20isn’t.)">reported</a> that ads from “anonymous backers” outlining Plames bigotry ran in the final weeks of her campaign.
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Valerie Plame

Ex-CIA Agent Valerie Plame Lost Her Congressional Bid In The New Mexico Primary

2020 Election

Democratic Party

New Mexico Democrat Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham reportedly received special treatment after she issued lockdown orders and shutdown non-essential businesses last month in response to the coronavirus pandemic when a non-essential business opened up to sell her &#8220;expensive jewelry.&#8221;
KRQE news anchor Jessica Garate reported late Tuesday evening that Lujan Grisham called an employee at Lilly Barrack to buy expensive jewelry.
&#8220;The jewelry was bought over the phone, but the employee went to the store, got the jewelry and placed it outside the door of the store where someone who knew the governor picked it up,&#8221; Garate <a href="https://www.krqe.com/health/coronavirus-new-mexico/did-the-governor-break-her-own-rules/">reported</a>. &#8220;This is according to the person who runs Lilly Barrack stores. She says she didn’t know about it until after it happened. She also said no one was allowed in the stores at that time due to the public health order.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Did Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham play by her own rules? We&#39;ve learned a non-essential business opened back in April, so the governor could get jewelry. The governor&#39;s response and what other businesses think tonight on <a href="https://twitter.com/krqe?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@krqe</a> KRQE at 10pm. <a href="https://t.co/KbhpO7ELHT">pic.twitter.com/KbhpO7ELHT</a>
&mdash; Jessica Garate (@krqegarate) <a href="https://twitter.com/krqegarate/status/1265489907608252416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 27, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
KRQE reported that Lujan Grisham, who is reportedly being vetted as a potential vice presidential pick for presumptive Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden, refused to answer questions on camera about the controversy.
A spokesperson for Lujan Grisham told KRQE: “Lujan Grisham did call an employee, saying they had a longstanding personal relationship. The employee came here [Lilly Barrack], got the jewelry and took it home, left it outside their home and then someone came and picked it up.”
The governor&#8217;s office would not release the name of the person who picked up the jewelry and delivered it to Lujan Grisham.
KRQE highlighted how Lujan Grisham had &#8220;lectured&#8221; people in the state to stay home during the lockdown, and video posted by the local news station showed Lujan Grisham telling residents in her state: &#8220;I need you to do better.&#8221;
Lujan Grisham&#8217;s office claims that she did nothing wrong and pointed to an order that stated that the state&#8217;s public health orders did not impact businesses that interacted with customers remotely, but the order also clearly stated that it required &#8220;the closure of physical retail spaces.&#8221;
KRQE noted that similar businesses were upset when they learned what Lujan Grisham did because they did not believe that was permissible under the lockdown orders:
<blockquote>Other businesses like Mark Diamond’s Jewelers did not interpret the orders the way the governor’s office did. A manager at Gertrude Zachary says no one was allowed in their store and they wouldn’t even risk it because of a fear of fines. They thought online sales through shipping was their only option, but they got zero customers and lost hundreds of thousands in sales.</blockquote>
Other governors have also come under fire for similar &#8220;special treatment&#8221; amid the ongoing social distancing orders, including another potential vice presidential candidate, Michigan Democrat Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Whitmer, a vocal critic of Trump&#8217;s calls for reopening the country, has been under intense fire recently for a series of controversial actions, including her husband calling a boating company, located in an area of the state that Whitmer urged people to not travel to if they did not live there, and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/whitmer-admits-husband-asked-boating-company-for-special-treatment-claims-he-was-joking">requested special treatment</a> because he was married to the governor.
<iframe title="Did the governor break her own rules?" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/86wkAKM2gys?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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The Permian Boom Collides With a Governor&#8217;s Climate-Change Push

‘Non-Essential’ Store Opened During Lockdown To Sell Democrat Governor Lujan Grisham Jewelry, Report Says

A New Mexico county announced it will not enforce Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s public health orders, leaving the decision to residents willing to bet that a state patrolman won’t catch them.
Lea County Manager Mike Gallagher posted a message on social media Thursday advising residents that city and county officials would not penalize anyone for violating state coronavirus orders.
“Several people have asked me when will Lea County open up for business? My answer is businesses will open when a business owner decides to open. It has always been the decision of a business owner to close or to open. The county will not stand in their way,” Gallagher said.
On Friday, Grisham partially relaxed her lockdown <a href="https://cv.nmhealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/051520-PHO.pdf">order</a>, allowing places such as restaurants and churches to operate at 25% capacity. Businesses categorized as “close-contact,” such as barbershops and gyms, or “recreational,” such as movie theaters and miniature golf courses, must remain closed. New Mexico requires residents to wear a mask in public places, including parks, with exceptions for eating, exercising, and medical conditions.
Grisham has admitted that a mask requirement will be difficult to enforce but is relying on “positive peer pressure” to encourage voluntary compliance, the <a href="https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/local/new-mexico/2020/05/14/coronavirus-new-mexico-requires-face-masks-public-what-to-know/5194447002/">Las Cruces Sun</a> reports. The state’s <a href="https://cv.nmhealth.org/">website</a> includes a space for people to “Report a Public Health Order Violation.”
Gallagher said that while county and city officials won’t enforce Grisham’s orders, New Mexico State Police officers still will – if they can catch you.
“The New Mexico State Police have been enforcing the public health orders. Lea County has five cities, more than 4,400 square miles, and about 71,000 people. I am unaware of how many state police officers there currently are in Lea County,” he said. “I have not seen any today. I do know that the state police cannot be everywhere at the same time.”
The county manager also took a veiled shot at Grisham’s “report” box for New Mexicans to inform on their neighbors or other residents for violating health orders. Gallagher encouraged people to respect each other and make their own decisions about their safety, but to refrain from “snitching” to the state police.
“If you wish to wear a mask, then wear a mask. Please do not try to shame others that do not wear one. If you prefer not to wear a mask, then don’t wear a mask. Please do not criticize those that do wear one,” he said. “You decide what you think is best for your business, for your family, for your employees, and for your customers. Along with being respectful to others, let&#8217;s support businesses and avoid snitching on them to the state.”
“If you open your business, there may be consequences with the New Mexico State Police, and as you know, there will definitely be consequences if you decide to keep your business closed,” Gallagher said. “It’s up to you to stay closed or to open.”
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New Mexico County: Businesses Can Open, But Please, No ‘Snitching’

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) is threatening to crack down on a small city for bucking her stay-at-home order and pushing to reopen businesses.
Grants Mayor Martin Hicks (D) encouraged businesses in his city of about 9,000 people to reopen on Monday, defying Grisham’s stay-at-home order over the coronavirus. Hicks says that the governor’s order, expected to last until at least May 15, is an overreaction and causing more harm than good.
&#8220;The governor is killing us. She’s totally killing us,&#8221; Hicks said Thursday, according to The <a href="https://apnews.com/fd9f7249658ae325dcf8528d786530b0">Associated Press</a>. &#8220;So we have no choice. So right now, we are reopening. Let State Police come down here.&#8221;
Dozens of businesses in Grants have petitioned to reopen. Hicks is working with Cibola County Sheriff Tony Mace to keep state troopers out of the city and county and prevent state law enforcement from fining businesses for violating the stay-at-home order.
Grisham responded to Hicks on Friday, claiming the mayor’s decision to reopen his city was putting the state at risk. Grisham warned nonessential businesses that follow Hick’s lead that they would be fined and forced to close down again, according to the <a href="https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/coronavirus/lujan-grisham-fires-back-at-grants-mayor/article_f219e494-8662-11ea-bd4f-e3978b863f47.html">Santa Fe New Mexican</a>.
&#8220;This notion that you don’t have to comply is wrong. That you can just open up businesses and not worry about public health issues is really quite frankly tantamount to opening up a public pool and having a pee section,&#8221; Lujan Grisham said. &#8220;This makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, flies in the face of every single positive, productive, evidence-based public health effort and, quite frankly, I happen to know that the county commission is incredibly upset by these directions.&#8221;
New Mexico has <a href="https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/">reported</a> less than 3,000 cases of the coronavirus and 104 deaths. The rural state is 38th in its total number of reported cases. On a per capita basis, New Mexico has about 1.35 cases per 1,000 people, between Texas with .87 cases and Georgia with 2.26. Georgia allowed nonessential businesses to reopen on Friday, and Texas is easing restrictions on businesses this week.
Michigan, which includes Detroit, has reported 3.8 cases of COVID-19 per 1,000 residents. New York, the epicenter for the coronavirus outbreak in the United States, has reported a far higher 15.33 cases per 1,000 people.
Grisham and Hicks are both Democrats, but the mayor says that Grisham has more interest in being a “little dictator” than making the right decisions for New Mexicans.
&#8220;The bottom line is, here’s the killer thing for me, is if Walmart and Smith’s can open with social distancing, then why can’t a clothing store, why can’t a liquor store, why can’t a gun store as long as they follow the same guidelines,&#8221; Hicks <a href="https://www.kob.com/new-mexico-news/mayor-of-grants-makes-provocative-statement-about-the-gov-as-he-plans-to-reopen-his-city/5710138/">said</a>. &#8220;She says they’re not essential. But if that’s the only way these people put food on their family is through that business, then by god that business is essential to them.&#8221;
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">subscriber</a>.

‘Let State Police Come Down Here’: NM Mayor Defies Governor To Reopen His City; Governor Threatens Action

Economy

Prosecutors in New Mexico are calling for a Democratic State Senator to receive the maximum sentence after he was convicted of aggravated drunken driving and reckless driving last month.
State Sen. Richard Martinez (D-Ojo Caliente) was found guilty in in December after a two-day trial and is scheduled for sentencing Tuesday afternoon, The Associated Press <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/new-mexico/articles/2020-01-07/prosecutors-seek-to-jail-state-senator-for-drunken-driving">reported</a>.
“Prosecutors Mark Probasco and Peter Valencia say Martinez was intimately aware as a lawmaker and former magistrate judge of rules he ignored by drinking and driving and should receive the maximum jail sentence. They also are recommending a fine of $900, driving school, an ignition breathalyzer device for Martinez&#8217;s car and restitution of a couple injured in the June crash,” the outlet reported.
“Defendant’s actions demand the full gamut of punishment,” Valencia and Probasco wrote in a sentencing memo ahead of the Tuesday hearing, <a href="https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/ag-s-office-wants-sen-martinez-in-jail-for-days/article_140ee3da-30d0-11ea-8a86-4bcd1844a455.html">according</a> to The Santa Fe New Mexican.
“Unlike many DWI offenders, Defendant knew the specific harm that comes when people drink and drive,” they added in their memo. “His life as a career public servant shows why he should know better.”
“Defendant is sophisticated, with a wealth of experience in both the lawmaking and the law-executing process,” the memo also said. “Defendant thus committed these crimes with the full agency, awareness, and intelligence of a person learned in the law and learned in the horrific consequences of this type of crime. Despite this awareness, he still made the choice to drink and drive.”
Martinez was charged after a June incident that involved him rear-ending a vehicle stopped at a red light. Martinez then refused to take a field sobriety test.
The AP reported that “Martinez pleaded not guilty and his defense attorney suggested the senator became disoriented as a result of hitting his head in the collision.”
“Police body-camera video showed Martinez fumbling over a field sobriety test and reacting with disbelief from a hospital bed when notified that he would be placed under arrest and could lose his driving privileges,” the outlet continued.
Footage of his arrest from a hospital bed can be found <a href="https://www.santafenewmexican.com/arrest-of-state-sen-richard-martinez-on-suspicion-of-dwi/video_80ab04fc-9c5a-11e9-b5b8-43fc8c817037.html">here</a>.
State District Judge Francis Mathew determined Martinez was guilty on December 17 during a bench trial that occurred nearly six months after the traffic accident. More than a week later, on December 28, state “Senate Democrats announced Martinez would step down from his committee leadership roles, including as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee,” the New Mexican reported.
Martinez refused to resign, however, and said he plans to seek re-election in 2020. A primary challenger plans to take on Martinez, but the AP reported this person also has a drunk driving conviction – thought it is from decades ago.
The state Attorney General’s office is asking for the maximum 180-day jail sentence for Martinez. The New Mexican reported that the state senator “faces a mandatory five days of incarceration for the reckless driving charge and a minimum of 48 hours in jail for the aggravated drunken-driving charge.” Prosecutors in the AG’s office, however, want 90 days for each offense.
The AG’s office is also demanding Martinez pay restitution to Johnny and Gerrie Sisneros, who were in the Jeep hit by the state senator in the crash. The couple suffered multiple injuries, according to the New Mexican.
Prosecutors also said in their memo that Martinez “has displayed a total lack of remorse,” for his actions and even made comments in September that he didn’t think the incident would hurt his political career. In fact, he said it would “make me a better senator.”

Drunk driving

State Senator Faces Jail For Drunk Driving That Caused Crash

Alcohol

The mayor of Las Vegas, New Mexico has been indicted on six felony charges of bribery and abuse of power after she allegedly provided lucrative city contracts to her boyfriend.
The Las Vegas Optic <a href="https://www.lasvegasoptic.com/content/breaking-las-vegas-mayor-charged-six-felonies">reported</a> that the city&#8217;s first female mayor, Tonita Gurule-Giron (who appears to be a Democrat, though that has not been reported by any outlets covering her indictment), was charged on Monday after an investigation into alleged “official acts for personal financial interest, ethical principles of public service, soliciting or receiving illegal kickbacks, conspiracy to commit making or permitting false public voucher, unlawful interest in a public contract and demanding or receiving bribe by public officer or public employee.”
The outlet reported that the New Mexico Attorney General’s office raided the mayor’s home, city hall, and the home of her alleged boyfriend, Marvin Salazar.
KRQE <a href="https://www.krqe.com/news/new-mexico/las-vegas-mayor-indicted-on-multiple-felony-charges/">reported</a> that part of the indictment against Gurule-Giron stems from a contract she made with Salazar’s construction company &#8212; Gemini Construction &#8212; that involved several jobs with the city. At one point, Salazar’s company was hired to install new floors in city hall. The outlet reported that investigators claim to have evidence that after Salazar was hired to install the new floors, the payout for the job doubled &#8212; which should have required returning to the bidding process.
The Optic reported that Salazar was awarded a contract for the floors worth $8,998, but that amount was later revised to $19,123.35. Salazar had been underbid by Price’s Furnishings, which said it could install the new floors for $6,529.19. A note at the bottom of Price’s bid claimed the company doesn’t install hardwood floors, so their bid was rejected. The Optic reported that it is unclear who wrote that note. Price’s website mentions solid wood floors as an option.
Salazar and Gurule-Giron were allegedly in a romantic relationship when the flooring contract was awarded.
Martin Gonzales, who at the time of the contract bidding process was the public works manager for the city, told investigators that when Gurule-Giron became mayor she requested the flooring be installed by Benavidez Construction. Gonzales said he told her that the company must bid, and she asked him what the project would cost. Gonzales couldn’t tell her because doing so would violate the procurement code, the Optic reported. The affidavit charging Gurule-Giron claimed the mayor responded to Gonzales by saying, “I am the chief operating executive officer of the city and I was elected to know everything and I will know everything.”
Gonzalez, according to investigators, then told the mayor that the floors would cost about $9,000 based on the second bid that came in from Ron’s Flooring. Gurule-Giron then told him to award the contract to Gemini Construction but Gonzales said he couldn’t because the company had not bid. A month later, Gemini placed a bid for the contract that was $54 less than the bid from Ron’s Flooring. The mayor awarded the contract to Gemini two days after it placed a bid.
The next year, “an emergency purchase order for a water leak that occurred in City Hall was issued to Gemini in the amount of $10,000,” the Optic reported. Former Risk Manager Darlene Arguello told the outlet that it “was not an emergency; it absolutely wasn’t.”

Las Vegas New Mexico

New Mexico Mayor Charged With Multiple Felonies Including Bribery And Abuse Of Power

Crime

On Tuesday, the <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/usms-led-operation-triple-beam-results-327-felony-arrests-central-and-northern-new-mexico">Department of Justice</a> announced the results of a 90-day law enforcement operation, known as “Operation Triple Beam Albuquerque”: 327 known violent offenders were arrested and brought to justice.
The DOJ stated the fugitives from the law came from Bernalillo County and the Albuquerque, New Mexico metropolitan area. The DOJ detailed the various crimes the fugitives had been charged with:
<blockquote>During OTB Albuquerque, SWIFT located and apprehended 327 alleged state, local and federal fugitives, including 59 state probation and parole absconders, 10 individuals wanted for homicide, 20 for weapons offenses, 13 for sex crimes, 50 for assault, and 91 on narcotics charges. In the Santa Fe and Farmington communities, investigators made 92 arrests. The operation resulted in the seizure of 43 illegal firearms, more than 50 pounds of methamphetamine, four pounds of heroin, and two pounds of cocaine. In addition, 31 stolen vehicles were recovered and $50,000 was seized.</blockquote>
Attorney General William P. Barr stated, “I commend the work of the brave men and women of the U.S. Marshals Service on their outstanding execution of Operation Triple Beam, a nationwide effort by the Marshals to target violent, gang-related crime in some of America’s most dangerous cities. The Marshals are truly America’s fugitive hunters, with a proud tradition dating back to the founding of the United States. Their unyielding commitment to justice, in partnership with our state and local colleagues, made this initiative a great success.”
U.S. Marshals Service Director Donald Washington echoed, “We brought Operation Triple Beam, our mobile gang enforcement platform, to Albuquerque to target the gang-related fugitives fueling the violent crime in the area. The U.S. Marshals in the District of New Mexico, along with dedicated inspectors in our Investigative Operations Division, and all of our partner agencies, achieved results that illustrate our full commitment to make communities safer by addressing violent crime at its core and taking the worst of the worst off the streets. The good citizens of New Mexico have our enduring support.”
U.S. Attorney John C. Anderson added, “The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to working with its law enforcement partners to combat violent crime throughout New Mexico. We commend the U.S. Marshals Service for regularly leading multi-agency operations like Triple Beam throughout the state that have made our communities safer by taking hundreds of fugitives off our streets.”
Bernalillo County Sheriff Manuel Gonzales III asserted, “Operation Triple Beam was an outstanding public safety effort by all personnel involved, and the unified approach for law enforcement resulted in hundreds of arrests, including many for dangerous outstanding warrants. I remain committed to collaborating with local and federal authorities to keep our children, families, and businesses safe.
The DOJ noted,“This is the second OTB conducted by the U.S. Marshals in New Mexico this year. OTB Las Cruces concluded April 12, 2019, with the arrest of 154 fugitives throughout Dona Ana County; there were 115 felony arrests within the City of Las Cruces … Since the Department of Justice reinvigorated Project Safe Neighborhoods in 2017, U.S. Marshals have launched 33 OTB collaborations of local, state, federal and tribal law enforcement agencies in some of the nation’s most violence-plagued communities, resulting in more than 6,000 arrests, 1,200 firearms confiscations, and the seizure of $1.8 million.”
&nbsp;

Welcome Sign at the entrance to Albuquerque, NM

DOJ: We Arrested 327 Violent Offenders Who Had Fled From Justice In New Mexico

Department of Justice

The sheer scope of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/45822/hammer-customs-and-border-protections-insane-march-josh-hammer">systemic</a>, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/46992/crisis-cbps-april-border-numbers-further-reveal-josh-hammer">all-encompassing</a> sovereignty <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/46457/amidst-unprecedented-border-crisis-united-nations-josh-hammer">crisis</a> at our southern border is staggering.
From both a <a href="http://www.dailywire.com/news/48335/hammer-federal-government-has-no-more-important-josh-hammer">constitutional and a philosophical perspective</a>, the federal government has no more important responsibility to its citizenry than securing the border. Period.
From a national security perspective, it is stupefying to ponder the reality that we are releasing tens of thousands of barely vetted aliens into the interior each month due to a brutal combination of catch-and-release tomfoolery, limited bed space due to the under-funding of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the erroneously decreed <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/46601/hammer-why-did-dhs-abort-its-re-writing-infamous-josh-hammer">Flores settlement</a>. Indeed, we know from the <a href="https://cis.org/Bensman/Assessing-Report-about-Four-ISIS-Terrorist-Suspects-Caught-Nicaragua">intrepid reporting</a> of journalist extraordinaire Todd Bensman that the predominantly Central America-fleeing economic migrants have no shortage of dangerous Middle Easterners <a href="https://www.toddbensman.com/from-panama-and-costa-rica-complete-findings-of-bensmans-terror-travel-threat-investigation/">mixed in among them</a>. Furthermore, we are letting in <a href="https://www.conservativereview.com/news/contagion-invasion-part-1-ever-happened-principle-protecting-borders-dangerous-diseases/">no shortage</a> of migrants afflicted with <a href="https://www.conservativereview.com/news/contagion-invasion-part-2-untold-public-health-endemic-borders-beyond/">deadly diseases</a>.
From an assimilation perspective, the huge number of Central Americans absconding into the nation&#8217;s interior due to the de facto amnesty of catch-and-release only exacerbates our increasingly stark crisis of national unity — including but hardly limited to our ability to (literally) all <a href="https://www.conservativereview.com/news/what-assimilation-half-the-people-in-americas-largest-cities-speak-foreign-languages/">speak a common language</a>.
From a crime perspective, we know that non-citizen aliens commit a <a href="https://cis.org/Camarota/NonCitizens-Committed-Disproportionate-Share-Federal-Crimes-201116">disproportionate share of federal crime</a> — 44.2% of it over the course of 2011 — in 2016, according to <a href="https://cis.org/Camarota/NonCitizens-Committed-Disproportionate-Share-Federal-Crimes-201116">statistics</a> from the U.S. Sentencing Commission. And from a pure common sense perspective, it ought to make sense that vulnerable unaccompanied alien youths showing up at our border would be more susceptible to recruitment by MS-13 and other Central America-originating transnational gangs. In fact, both MS-13 and the cartels operate so fluidly throughout the U.S. due in no small part to the ongoing surfeit of prospective gangsters and drug mules who reach our border and are released into the interior. Consider this <a href="https://www.conservativereview.com/news/19-22-indicted-ultra-violent-ms-13-murders-illegal-aliens-central-america/">harrowing story</a> out of Los Angeles:
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">&#8220;Nineteen of the 22 defendants charged in the indictment had entered the country illegally in the last four years,&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/MHQ1kW4aAU">https://t.co/MHQ1kW4aAU</a>
— Daniel Horowitz (@RMConservative) <a href="https://twitter.com/RMConservative/status/1151463048827346944?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 17, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
But perhaps the singular least discussed aspect of the ongoing crisis at our southern border is that the illegal alien influx there has dramatically metastasized America&#8217;s <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db329-h.pdf">already-dire drug epidemic</a>. An eye-opening <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/drugs-pour-in-from-mexico-as-border-patrol-forced-to-focus-on-migrants">report</a> in the Washington Examiner this morning shines a spotlight on the extent to which the border crisis has frozen our Department of Homeland Security (DHS) human assets — redirecting those officials who would normally be in the business of interdicting contraband 50-100 miles inland to deal with apprehension and toddler daycare duty at the border itself. Per the Examiner:
<blockquote>Border Patrol highway checkpoints in the southern New Mexico region that normally seize seven figures worth of drugs annually have not seized a dollar in nearly four months after being shuttered in late March, allowing drugs to flood into the country. Meantime, with the added supply, prices for illicit drugs are dropping precipitously.
Those seven checkpoints have sat unattended after Border Patrol closed them to move all personnel to the border to assist with apprehending, processing, and caring for the high number of migrant families arriving. &#8230;
Officials have also noted upticks in methamphetamine and fentanyl seizures since March. Black said the cost of a pound of meth has been slashed in half since then, from $4,700 when the checkpoints first closed to $2,500 by late June. The price dropped because the market is saturated.</blockquote>
To summarize, then, Border Patrol assets who are normally tasked with interdicting contraband have been, due in no small part to the current under-funding of DHS, redeployed to the border to deal with the sundry maladies transpiring there. As a consequence, drugs trafficked in by the cartels and their terrorist allies (like Hezbollah) are not being seized. There is now a huge, unprecedented glut of deadly narcotics pouring into the nation. Recall that a sugar packet-sized dose of fentanyl can kill a whole room full of people. And now, so much meth is being trafficked into the interior that prices in Las Cruces, New Mexico have been cut by nearly half in just four months! That is simply astonishing.
America&#8217;s drug overdose epidemic, while <a href="https://www.conservativereview.com/news/senate-about-to-pass-opioid-laws-that-are-built-on-lies/">misdiagnosed</a> as an &#8220;opioid&#8221; epidemic, is really a more general narcotics epidemic that has fentanyl, cocaine, meth, and heroin as its leading contributors. Our under-funded DHS and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/48281/hammer-trump-has-unilateral-power-stop-migrant-josh-hammer">political unwillingness</a> to stanch the illegal alien influx bleeding at our border is not just resulting in <a href="http://www.conservativereview.com/news/19-22-indicted-ultra-violent-ms-13-murders-illegal-aliens-central-america/">machete-style MS-13 murders</a> in Los Angeles. It is also leading to an unprecedented crisis of drugs so potent that — in the case of fentanyl — they might be reasonably compared to cartel-driven chemical warfare against our inner cities and collective progeny.
This is a huge, huge problem. Drugs are literally destroying countless small towns across the nation. And now our political elites, by ignoring the border crisis as they have, are somehow making the drug epidemic crisis even worse than it already is. It is nothing short of a blemish upon our entire political ruling class.

HAMMER: Why Is No One Discussing The Drug Trafficking Aspect Of Our Southern Border Crisis?

Department of Homeland Security

Drugs

Illegal Immigration

Immigration

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Los Angeles

MS-13 Gang

Southern Border

After reports that Nike pulled the patriotic &#8220;Betsy Ross Flag&#8221; edition of a shoe after national anthem-protesting former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick complained that it was &#8220;offensive,&#8221; Republican Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey announced Tuesday that his state would be pulling financial incentives offered to Nike to build a manufacturing facility in the state.
&#8220;Instead of celebrating American history the week of our nation’s independence, Nike has apparently decided that Betsy Ross is unworthy, and has bowed to the current onslaught of political correctness and historical revisionism,&#8221; Ducey wrote in a series of tweets Tuesday. &#8220;Nike has made its decision, and now we’re making ours. I’ve ordered the Arizona Commerce Authority to withdraw all financial incentive dollars under their discretion that the State was providing for the company to locate here.&#8221;
The next morning, the Democratic governor of Arizona&#8217;s neighboring state sent a very different message to Nike: &#8220;Hey, Nike, let&#8217;s talk,&#8221; tweeted New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in response to Ducey&#8217;s posts.
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">Hey <a href="https://twitter.com/Nike?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Nike</a>, let&#8217;s talk. <a href="https://t.co/ULqupXdVSj">https://t.co/ULqupXdVSj</a>
— Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (@GovMLG) <a href="https://twitter.com/GovMLG/status/1146090103627845634?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 2, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
&#8220;We want those jobs,&#8221; said the governor&#8217;s director of communications, Tripp Stelnicki. &#8220;It&#8217;s wild that anyone would jeopardize viable employment for potentially hundreds of state residents because of some political virtue-signaling.&#8221; The outlet reports that Stelnicki confirmed that the governor&#8217;s office has reached out to Nike about working out a deal for the manufacturing facility, <a href="https://www.kob.com/new-mexico-news/nike-controversy-prompts-governor-to-consider-talks/5410155/">KOB 4</a> reports (h/t <a href="https://hotair.com/archives/2019/07/02/new-mexico-gov-nike-arizona-doesnt-want-business-canceled-american-flag-sneakers-well-take/">HotAir</a>).
As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/49122/ca-governor-after-nike-cancels-american-themed-hank-berrien">The Daily Wire</a> reported, another Democratic governor who is now publicly courting Nike is California&#8217;s Gavin Newsom, who sent his own &#8220;Hey Nike&#8221; message Tuesday, but took his outreach effort further by declaring Nike&#8217;s decision to pull the flag honoring America&#8217;s heritage and an iconic female &#8220;the right thing.&#8221; Nike, said Newsom, represents &#8220;the best of our American values.&#8221;
&#8220;Nike Hey, @Nike — we’re just a quick jaunt over the border&#8230;&#8221; Newsom tweeted Tuesday evening. &#8220;Thank you for doing the right thing. CA is open for business and welcomes those that represent the best of our American values.&#8221;
The controversy began when Nike decided to pull production on a patriotic shoe that contained the Betsy Ross Flag, the original American flag designed by Ross during the American War for Independence that contains 13 stars in a circle, representing the original 13 colonies.
As reported by <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/arizona-governor-pulls-state-aid-for-nike-plant-over-betsy-ross-colin-kaepernick-controversy-11562072719">The Wall Street Journal</a>, Nike was planning on investing some $185 million in a facility in Goodyear, Arizona that would employ around 500 people. The Goodyear City Council &#8220;approved a package of incentives that would reimburse the company about $1 million in planning fees and about $4,000 per full-time employee Nike hires, according to city records,&#8221; the Journal notes.
While various governors vie for a chance to get some of that Nike money, backlash is building against the company online, with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz leading the way on the &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/49113/nike-boycott-gains-steam-after-company-drops-amanda-prestigiacomo">#WalkAwayFromNike</a>&#8221; movement.
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">I love America. I stand for the anthem, respect the flag &amp; honor the men &amp; women who fought to defend our Nation. I respect Free Speech &amp; I’m exerting mine: until <a href="https://twitter.com/Nike?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Nike</a> ends its contempt for those values, I WILL NO LONGER PURCHASE NIKE PRODUCTS. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WalkAwayFromNike?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WalkAwayFromNike</a> RT if you agree. <a href="https://t.co/IvXNTgvlHq">https://t.co/IvXNTgvlHq</a>
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) <a href="https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1146096648445145089?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 2, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Kaepernick sparked the anthem protest movement during the 2016 preseason when he began refusing to stand to honor the flag before games. &#8220;I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,&#8221; he told the press in August 2016. &#8220;To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.&#8221; After a dismal 2016 season with the 49ers, who went <a href="https://www.espn.com/nfl/team/schedule/_/name/sf/season/2016">2-14</a>, Kaepernick opted for free agency but no team would sign him. He became &#8220;the face of Nike&#8221; last year when the company signed a massive deal with him for its 30th anniversary &#8220;Just Do It&#8221; campaign.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/49113/nike-boycott-gains-steam-after-company-drops-amanda-prestigiacomo">BACKLASH: Boycott Gains Steam After Nike Drops American Flag Shoe At Colin Kaepernick&#8217;s Behest</a>

New Mexico Governor Jumps In On Kaepernick-Nike Action Amid Flag Controversy

Arizona

California

Colin Kaepernick

Gavin Newsom

Nike

Ted Cruz

Yesterday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a staggering tweet and press release that speaks to the depths of our migrant influx <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/46457/amidst-unprecedented-border-crisis-united-nations-josh-hammer">crisis</a> affecting our <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/46207/day-our-beleaguered-border-human-smugglers-arizona-josh-hammer">beleaguered</a> southern border. According to CBP, on Memorial Day this past Monday there were an astonishing 2,200 (!) apprehensions in CBP&#8217;s El Paso Sector alone.
&#8220;2,200 apprehensions in 1 day in 1 Sector&#8212;Memorial Day was the busiest recent day of enforcement activity for El Paso Sector Border Patrol agents,&#8221; CBP tweeted.
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
2,200 apprehensions in 1 day in 1 Sector&#8212;Memorial Day was the busiest recent day of enforcement activity for El Paso Sector Border Patrol agents. More here: <a href="https://t.co/rivsB4HVg3">https://t.co/rivsB4HVg3</a> <a href="https://t.co/9ylYOzwbcy">pic.twitter.com/9ylYOzwbcy</a>
&#8212; CBP (@CBP) <a href="https://twitter.com/CBP/status/1133514043178848257?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 28, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Here is more from CBP&#8217;s <a href="https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/local-media-release/over-2200-apprehensions-el-paso-sector-border-patrol-memorial-day">official press release</a>:
<blockquote>
The busy day began in the boot heel of New Mexico with a large group of over 200 illegal aliens apprehended near the Antelope Wells Port of Entry just after 2 a.m. 
A second enormous group was one of the largest in El Paso Sector thus far with over 430 people. This group crossed the border just west of Bowie High School at around 7 a.m.
By the end of the day, the El Paso Sector Agents had apprehended over 2,200 illegal aliens with 1,850 of those being taken into custody in the geographic area between Executive Boulevard and Midway Street in El Paso.
These groups were comprised of mostly Central American families and unaccompanied children. All of the illegal aliens were taken into custody for processing to include initial medical screenings. They will remain in U.S. Border Patrol custody until they are processed accordingly.
</blockquote>
CBP has often used extraordinarily blunt language, of late. In the same press release, for example, CBP refers to the &#8220;influx of illegal aliens entering our country [who have] no respect for our immigration laws.&#8221; As The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/46992/crisis-cbps-april-border-numbers-further-reveal-josh-hammer">reported</a>, furthermore, CBP responded to the publication earlier this month of its monthly apprehension numbers for the month of April by tweeting about the &#8220;unprecedented&#8221; and &#8220;unsustainable&#8221; influx: &#8220;#CBP is experiencing an unprecedented and unsustainable situation at the Southwest border. In April, CBP apprehended or deemed inadmissible 109,144 individuals along the SWB.&#8221;
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CBP?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CBP</a> is experiencing an unprecedented and unsustainable situation at the Southwest border. In April, CBP apprehended or deemed inadmissible 109,144 individuals along the SWB. Details here: <a href="https://t.co/ru9AsalgPb">https://t.co/ru9AsalgPb</a> <a href="https://t.co/kzfTpfPNP8">pic.twitter.com/kzfTpfPNP8</a>
&#8212; CBP (@CBP) <a href="https://twitter.com/CBP/status/1126214086839214083?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 8, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
A month prior, CBP Deputy Commissioner Robert E. Perez <a href="https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/national-media-release/cbp-releases-march-statistics-southwest-border-migration">referred</a> to the onslaught as a &#8220;system-wide emergency.&#8221; &#8220;We are currently experiencing a system-wide emergency in our processing and holding facilities,&#8221; Perez stated at the time of the release of CBP&#8217;s apprehension data for the month of March.
In a Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/46959/hammer-be-very-skeptical-jared-kushners-new-josh-hammer">op-ed</a> earlier this month, I laid out some possible policy solutions to help assuage the overwhelming migrant influx wreaking havoc along our border:
<blockquote>
The current situation at our southern border is past the point of crisis level. We are inundated daily with largely-bogus asylum claims that are perversely goaded by the pernicious <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/45997/whole-world-knows-quotation-perfect-snapshot-our-josh-hammer">dissemination of inaccurate information</a> throughout Central America&#8217;s &#8220;Northern Triangle.&#8221; Policymakers ought to be focused like a laser beam upon <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/42539/hammer-border-wall-nice-interior-enforcement-nicer-josh-hammer">ramping up interior enforcement</a>, amending the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/46601/hammer-why-did-dhs-abort-its-re-writing-infamous-josh-hammer">deeply flawed</a> Flores consent decree with respect to illegal alien detention policy, and, at least for now, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/45394/hammer-trump-would-be-right-fully-shut-down-us-josh-hammer">fully shutting off</a> our southern border until we regain <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/42306/conservative-favorite-rep-chip-roys-maiden-floor-josh-hammer">operational control</a> of it and become a sovereign and secure nation once again.
</blockquote>
With a politically divided Congress, though, any possible legislative fix seems far off. Instead, President Trump would be wise to consider acting upon any number of his statutorily delegated powers to best contain our migrant influx:
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
There&#8217;s a long list of existing statute that gives <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDonaldTrump</a> to power to fix this problem on his own: 
8 U.S.C. § 1182(f) 
8 U.S.C. § 1222(a) 
8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(1)(A)(i) and (b)(1)(B)(iii)(IV) 
18 U.S.C. § 1001 
8 U.S.C. § 1158(a)(2)(C) <a href="https://t.co/nTHwmGFBXc">https://t.co/nTHwmGFBXc</a>
&#8212; Ryan James Girdusky (@RyanGirdusky) <a href="https://twitter.com/RyanGirdusky/status/1130891759393943554?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 21, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>

CBP Reports Staggering Number Of Memorial Day Apprehensions

Texas

Valerie Plame, a Democrat running for Congress in New Mexico, was caught flat-footed by CNN New Day host John Berman when she protested that when she retweeted a virulently anti-Semitic article in 2017, she hadn&#8217;t read the whole article. Berman countered with a statement that left Plame momentarily speechless, saying, &#8220;Initially, again, when people did raise objections to the article, you said, &#8216;Read the entire article and try just for a moment to put aside your biases and think clearly.&#8217;&#8221;
Oops.
The exchange went like this:
<blockquote>
Berman: So I&#8217;m going to ask you a question right now, and this is something that you address on your own campaign website, and it&#8217;s about an article that you retweeted in 2017, and the headline of the article is that &#8220;America&#8217;s Jews Are Driving America&#8217;s Wars.&#8221; And inside this article there are lines like, &#8220;Jewish groups and deep-pocketed individual donors not only control the politicians, they own and run the media and entertainment industries.&#8221; So you retweeted this; ultimately you regretted it, you apologized, and you&#8217;ve written about it a lot now, but let me start at the beginning: why did you at first, like this article?
Plame: I didn&#8217;t like it. All I was looking at, the only thing I focused on in that article was I thought it was a very bad idea to get out of the Iran nuclear deal. That&#8217;s very much what I was focused on. I stupidly did not read the rest of the article; when I did I was really horrified. It&#8217;s anti-Semitic; that has no place, at any time, anywhere. It&#8217;s not who I am; it&#8217;s not what I believe, and I apologized as sincerely and with heartfelt conviction as I possibly could. And there will be people that understand, you know, she&#8217;s human; she messed up; she didn&#8217;t read the whole article. And I look forward to moving forward and contributing in other ways, but there of course have been people who have used that and hit it over my head.
Berman: You have, you have, you have, you have now apologized, you have now apologized. I just wondered because initially, again, when people did raise objections to the article, you said, &#8220;Read the entire article and try just for a moment to put aside your biases and think clearly.&#8221;
</blockquote>
Berman asked, &#8220;So even when you were saying &#8216;read the entire article&#8217; you are now saying you had just skimmed it.&#8221;
Silence. Plame, stumbling, &#8220;I did &#8211; really&#8211;foolish, and I&#8217;m embarrassed by that whole episode. I shouldn&#8217;t&#8212; it was a&#8212; I should not have been anywhere near social media or a computer at that time.
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Watch: Democratic Party candidate for Congress is asked by <a href="https://twitter.com/CNN?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CNN</a> why she RT&#8217;d an article headlined: &#8220;Americas Jews are driving America&#8217;s wars&#8221;
She says she didn&#8217;t read it all then CNN confronts her with the fact she asked people to read the entire article. <a href="https://t.co/Fxz9jcgfsU">pic.twitter.com/Fxz9jcgfsU</a>
&#8212; Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) <a href="https://twitter.com/robbystarbuck/status/1127989779277070336?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 13, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
As Jim Geraghty noted in <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/valerie-plame-congressional-campaign-new-mexico/">National Review</a>, even aside from the specific piece in question, Plame&#8217;s actions have been replete with anti-Semitism::
<blockquote>
In the face of objections, Plame <a href="https://twitter.com/ValeriePlame/status/910893481735757825">doubled down</a>, declaring the article, &#8220;very provocative, but thoughtful. Many neocon hawks ARE Jewish . . . Read the entire article and try, just for a moment, to put aside your biases and think clearly.&#8221; A short time later, she backtracked: &#8220;OK folks, look, I messed up. I skimmed this piece, zeroed in on the neocon criticism, and shared it without seeing and considering the rest.&#8221; (This doesn&#8217;t make a whole lot of sense, considering how an hour earlier, she was telling everyone else to &#8220;read the entire article.&#8221; If Plame genuinely failed to discern any anti-Semitic themes in the articles she read and shared, I guess we should be glad she wasn&#8217;t a CIA analyst.)
</blockquote>
Geraghty added:
<blockquote>
She <a href="https://twitter.com/ValeriePlame/status/673511252144992256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&amp;ref_url=https://thefederalist.com/2017/09/21/leftist-darling-valerie-plame-bit-anti-semite/">repeated an urban legend about dancing Israelis</a> sighted after 9/11 and an article touting &#8220;Israeli fingerprints all over the place&#8221; in the investigation of the worst terror attack in American history. She <a href="https://twitter.com/ValeriePlame/status/550287266350764033?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&amp;ref_url=https://thefederalist.com/2017/09/21/leftist-darling-valerie-plame-bit-anti-semite/">shared an article</a> entitled &#8220;Why I Still Dislike Israel&#8221; that laments the &#8220;Israel Lobby electing and controlling a malleable congress [sic] and increasingly even officials at state and local levels.&#8221;
</blockquote>
As journalist Yashar Ali pointed out, Plame had tweeted at least eight other articles since 2014 from the same website that published the anti-Semitic piece:
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Did you skim these pieces too? <a href="https://t.co/9eeVYDzN6f">https://t.co/9eeVYDzN6f</a> <a href="https://t.co/j5UZpm1DPv">https://t.co/j5UZpm1DPv</a>
&#8212; Yashar Ali (@yashar) <a href="https://twitter.com/yashar/status/910919940848390144?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 21, 2017</a></blockquote>
</div>

WATCH: Democrat Claims She Didn’t Read All Of Virulent Anti-Semitic Piece She Retweeted. Then She Is Asked This.

Anti-Semitism

Students who were looking forward to a 4-H event in which they would learn all about taking care of horses at the New Mexico State Fairgrounds in Albuquerque found out that they were booted from the location to make room for immigrants seeking asylum.
As <a href="https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-metro/4-h-event-moved-from-nm-expo-to-accommodate-asylum-seekers/1990380872">KRGE reports</a>, the 4-day New Mexico State 4-H Horse School, which was supposed to be held at Expo New Mexico, has been held at the site for 30 years, but the dorms the students normally stay in will be used to house the immigrants, forcing the 4-H event June 3-6 to be moved across the state to Las Cruces. The parents reportedly only found out about the change in venues days ago.
One parent, Dr. Donny MacDougall, said the event features &#8220;learning all aspects of horsemanship from grooming and tacking up and nutrition veterinary care.&#8221; He added, &#8220;My daughter was in tears about this. We were extremely disappointed when we have a quality facility like Expo New Mexico and the rug gets ripped out from under our kids&#8217; feet. A different venue is a challenge for a lot of parents. It will cost more money and be more difficult logistically to get the kids there.&#8221;
Another parent, Rodney Woods, commented, &#8220;I never expected it and I don&#8217;t think they thought it through, and I hate to be too critical because of the problem that it is, but I don&#8217;t think they&#8217;ve thought this stuff through. They haven&#8217;t had time.&#8221; He added that he was concerned other events at Expo might suffer the same treatment, saying, &#8220;The first waves of many waves unless our governing bodies do something to figure out how to control it in a better way.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-metro/expo-new-mexico-to-temporarily-assist-asylum-seeking-families/1966616814">KRGE reported</a> on April 30: &#8220;The city says this was an opportunity to save money for the organizations that help the asylum seekers.&#8221; Mariella Ruyz-Angel, from the Albuquerque Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs, said at the time of groups that aid immigrants seeking asylum, &#8220;Right now, many of these groups host asylum seekers at hotels and places of worship, and so as great as that is for right now, it&#8217;s not something that is sustainable. It&#8217;s very costly for these groups.&#8221;
Dan Mourning, General Manager of Expo New Mexico, said, &#8220;In accordance with our mission, this is what we do. When there&#8217;s a humanitarian crisis, or any crisis of that nature, we&#8217;re here to open our grounds.&#8221;
KRGE reports, &#8220;Officials say parents have until May 15 to get a refund if they can&#8217;t make it down to Las Cruces. Expo New Mexico officials say as of right now, no other events are being moved or canceled.&#8221;
New Mexico State University <a href="https://aces.nmsu.edu/4h/-horse-school.html">describes the event</a> like this:
<blockquote>
The New Mexico 4-H Horse School provides New Mexico youth, parents, and adult leaders with useful information and skill development related to horses and horsemanship.
The program was developed to:
<ul>
<li>Provide continuity and standardize educational information</li>
<li>Support volunteer leader efforts</li>
<li>Help train junior 4-H leaders</li>
<li>Strengthen the educational value of county or club 4-H Horse project opportunities.</li>
</ul>
The available facilities provide a unique opportunity for the youth, parents, leaders, and instructors to be close together and concentrate on horses and horsemanship for one week. Everyone stays and eats at the youth hall dormitory at the New Mexico State Fairgrounds. There are three outdoor arenas and two indoor arenas, plus over two hundred stalls. This allows the school to do riding at night. Staying together and working close together builds a comradeship among the youth, leaders, and instructors. With the number of arenas available, the number of students per instructor is small.
</blockquote>

4-H Event Teaching Students About Horses Booted To Make Room For Asylum-Seekers

An Albuquerque, New Mexico, man was caught on camera stuffing rags into gas pump nozzles and threatening to set them on fire, all while ranting against America and praising terrorists.
Footage from a police lapel camera was recently released of the incident, which occurred in April, <a href="https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-metro/man-goes-on-anti-america-rant-after-allegedly-trying-to-blow-up-gas-station/1970841493">according to KRQE</a>. Police responded to a report from a gas station near I-40 and arrived with bean-bag shotguns, the outlet reported. The Circle K clerk told police the man threatened to kill everyone, so the clerk &#8220;hit the emergency pump shut off button&#8221; while others called local law enforcement.
Suspect Steven Gulley immediately &#8220;threw his hands in the air and laid on the ground&#8221; once police arrived, KRQE reported.
Instead of giving his legal name when asked, Gulley responded by saying, &#8220;I&#8217;ve been known by the devil.&#8221; In custody, he told police, &#8220;I was born, raised to be a f***ing terrorist. El Diablo.&#8221;
He also told police, &#8220;I&#8217;m going to nuke this f***ing country. Red, white and blue is a b****.&#8221; In addition, he said, &#8220;Washington, DC is going to get the first prize, motherf*****. Nuclear bombs at the f***ing White House.&#8221;
Gulley also made threats against President Donald Trump and &#8220;Navy seals.&#8221;
Gulley, according to KRQE, was previously arrested last August after threatening to set fire to a Conoco station. The case was dismissed, oddly, because witnesses didn&#8217;t appear in court.
In another oddity, a judge in Gulley&#8217;s current case has allowed him to be released to pre-trial services. State prosecutors wanted him locked up until trial.
While the media predictably focuses only <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/45643/man-arrested-allegedly-calling-death-threat-ilhan-ashe-schow">on death threats against Democrats</a> (or focuses more heavily and demands Republicans change their behavior), Trump has received his share of threats.
In 2016, during a rally in Las Vegas, Nevada, Michael Steven Sandford attempted to grab a police officer&#8217;s firearm in order to assassinate the then-candidate.
Quartz reported in March that prosecutions for death threats against U.S. politicians <a href="https://qz.com/1578862/arrests-for-death-threats-against-us-politicians-rose-in-2018/">rose in 2018</a>, including &#8220;<a href="https://tracfed.syr.edu/results/9x705c93c4e530.html">23 prosecutions for threats against Donald Trump or those in the presidential line of succession last year</a>, a 130% increase over 2017, when there were 10, according to Syracuse University&#8217;s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC).&#8221;
Quartz also reported that 75% of the threats against U.S. politicians since 1990 have &#8220;come from the ideological right&#8221; primarily targeting Democrats. This could indicate members of the Right are more prone to making threats, or it could signify that they are more prone to prosecution when they do so than when left-wing zealots make threats. Media outlets also hype threats made against Democrats, especially from the Right, and downplay threats made against Republicans.
One major example is the coverage of the mass assassination attempt of Republican lawmakers on a baseball field in 2017. Though Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) nearly died from his injuries, the story lasted all of two days on the major networks. Even then, coverage turned toward blaming Republican&#8217;s for their own near-deaths.
Compare that to coverage of the Christchurch Mosque shooter in New Zealand: Nearly a week of coverage and the media tried to portray the shooter as a &#8220;right-wing extremist&#8221; even though his manifesto contained indications he was no such thing.

Albuquerque Man Allegedly Threatens To Blow Up Gas Station, Trump; Goes On Anti-American Rant

Donald Trump

Members of the Roswell, New Mexico City Council voted Thursday to make their jurisdiction a de facto &#8220;sanctuary city for the unborn.&#8221;
&#8220;The City Council of Roswell, New Mexico passed a resolution Thursday declaring its jurisdiction to be in support of &#8216;fetal life,&#8217; something local pro-life activists say makes Roswell a &#8216;sanctuary city for the unborn,'&#8221; <a href="https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/new-mexico-town-becomes-sanctuary-city-for-the-unborn?utm_content=buffer120f5&amp;utm_medium=LSN&amp;utm_source=lifesitenews%2Btwitter&amp;utm_campaign=LSN">reported</a> LifeSiteNews. &#8220;In a seven-to-one vote, with one council member abstaining, the City Council passed Resolution 19-28, which declares &#8216;that innocent human life, including fetal life, must always be protected and that Society must protect those who cannot protect themselves.&#8217;&#8221;
The resolution expressly &#8220;honors the rights of healthcare providers to object on moral grounds to performing abortions and opposes any regulation or law seeking to violate that right.&#8221;
So-called &#8220;sanctuary cities&#8221; for illegal immigrants have become a pet project of the Left in recent years; such jurisdictions shield illegal immigrant criminals from federal authorities. In such likeness, the city of Roswell fashioned their area a &#8220;sanctuary&#8221; for the most vulnerable in our society: the voiceless unborn.
As <a href="https://www.rdrnews.com/2019/03/16/resolution-supporting-unborn-carried-by-council/?cli_action=1552929651.516">reported</a> by Roswell Daily Record, Councilor Angela Moore spoke on Thursday to offer personal testimony in support of the resolution. Moore became pregnant with twins as a teen; resisting the pressure to abort, she carried and delivered the babies and gave them up for adoption.
&#8220;And was it difficult? Yes, but my point about this is that you have the option &#8212; and that&#8217;s why I agreed to adding to this,&#8221; she said. &#8220;The information on adoption is expensive and all that &#8230; (adoption) it was an option of choice that we have as women. So this is a sad situation, that we&#8217;ve come to a place where they don&#8217;t think a life is a life, but at that age, I don&#8217;t think I knew any better. And until someone gave me a choice, an option, I thought that was my only option and so this is an important situation for me &#8230;&#8221;
Citizen Molly Boyles also spoke in support of the resolution. &#8220;Here in the United States, we have severe penalties for destroying eagle eggs or turtle eggs, but human children in the womb, with a heartbeat with feelings are being dismembered and killed,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I&#8217;m very happy to hear that the bill did not pass, but I do think that it would be a great thing for a city to declare that we believe in the sanctity of life &#8230;&#8221;
The Roswell declaration comes in the wake of extremist abortion-till-birth legislation popping up across the country. For example, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, recently signed a bill which allows for the murder of the unborn up to the moment of birth for essentially any reason, loosens the restriction on who can perform abortions, and strips the murder of the unborn &#8212; even the wanted unborn &#8212; from the state&#8217;s penal code.
A similar bill in Rhode Island is currently making its way through the legislature, and sitting Democrat Governor Ralph Northam of Virginia seemingly endorsed infanticide, or abortion post-birth, during a radio interview.
The New Mexico Senate recently rejected House Bill 51, which would have forced doctors with moral objections to perform abortions and stripped sections of the penal code which criminalize abortions.
As noted by LifeSiteNews, &#8220;New Mexico is home to an infamous late-term abortion facility, Southwestern Women&#8217;s Options, and has some of the loosest abortion laws in the country. Southwestern Women&#8217;s Options commits abortions throughout the third trimester of pregnancy.&#8221;

U.S. City Declares Itself A ‘Sanctuary City For The Unborn’

Abortion

Children

New Mexico governor Michelle Lujan Grisham is very much opposed to President Donald Trump&#8217;s border wall. And despite being the governor of a border state, has taken a far-left approach to illegal immigration, petitioning against the White House&#8217;s plan to stiffen control at the United States&#8217; southern border.
Grisham decided early on to offer her own &#8220;rebuttal&#8221; to Trump&#8217;s State of the Union speech, specifically addressing Trump&#8217;s call for greater border security and an extended border wall between the United States and Mexico that would stretch across the lower border of her state.
It was a tough call given the competitors &#8212; Sen. Kamala Harris&#8217; (D-CA) awkward pre-buttal, former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams&#8217; speech in front of the motionless mannequins from Pink Floyd&#8217;s &#8220;The Wall,&#8221; and Bernie Sanders&#8217; stuttering Facebook live &#8212; but Grisham may have released the most bizarre &#8220;rebuttal&#8221; of the night.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
All of this talk about walls tonight&#8230; <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SOTU?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SOTU</a> <a href="https://t.co/QFLAYHor0t">pic.twitter.com/QFLAYHor0t</a>
&#8212; MichelleLujanGrisham (@Michelle4NM) <a href="https://twitter.com/Michelle4NM/status/1092988768607334400?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 6, 2019</a></blockquote>
That&#8217;s right. Grisham is certainly &#8220;breaking down walls,&#8221; but less in a policy sense and more in a &#8220;Kool Aid man&#8221; sense. Her &#8220;rebuttal&#8221; ad is a solid 30 seconds of Grisham literally running through walls.
On Wednesday, Grisham took a more concrete approach to the president&#8217;s plan, signaling that she no longer intends to allow New Mexico&#8217;s National Guard troops to protect the southern border, and that she will recall the National Guard immediately.
<a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/02/06/691937342/n-m-governor-pulls-national-guard-from-border-citing-a-charade-at-federal-level">NPR reports</a> that &#8220;Grisham has ordered the majority of National Guard troops deployed at her state&#8217;s Southern border to withdraw, condemning what she called a &#8216;charade of border fear-mongering&#8217; by President Trump, who has warned of an immigration emergency in the region.&#8221;
Grisham&#8217;s order not only covers troops from her own state, but any troops from National Guard companies in other states who were deployed to serve at the New Mexico border, including troops from &#8220;Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Wisconsin.&#8221;
&#8220;I reject the federal contention that there exists an overwhelming national security crisis at the Southern border,&#8221; Grisham said.
President Donald Trump noted in his State of the Union speech last night that he believes immigration issues at the border do constitute a national emergency, and that he will declare one if Democrats do not approve around $5 billion in border wall funding when they reconvene with Congressional Republicans to discuss a long-term federal budget. On Wednesday, the U.S. government also announced that the number of U.S. military personnel at the border would increase by several hundred.

WATCH: New Mexico Gov Protests Trump By Literally Running Through Wall, Vowing To Pull Troops From Border

This article has been changed since it&#8217;s original publication. 
Like the pro-abortion crowd which found a loophole to legalize the deadly institution via the Supreme Court, the so-called &#8220;Death with Dignity&#8221; advocates may have found a way to legalize assisted suicide in all 50 states thanks to a recent bill in New Mexico.
According to <a href="https://www.lifenews.com/2018/12/26/bill-would-legalize-assisted-suicide-in-all-50-states-by-allowing-suicide-tourism/">LifeNews</a>, the New Mexico <a href="https://www.nmlegis.gov/Sessions/19%20Regular/bills/house/HB0090.pdf">House Bill 90</a> would theoretically make assisted suicide legal across the United States by allowing for something known as suicide tourism, where non-residents of the state could visit simply to kill themselves.
&#8220;The bill is referred to as The Elizabeth Whitefield End of Life Options Act,&#8221; reports the outlet. &#8220;The most concerning part of HB 90 does not have a residency requirement and it allows assisted suicide to be approved via telemedicine. Therefore, if legalized, Bill HB 90 will allow suicide tourism and legalize assisted suicide in all 50 US States.&#8221;
The bill also does not require patients to &#8220;self administer,&#8221; paving the way for euthanasia, transforming the healing medical profession into a death profession overnight. The bill also does not require the patient to have a second assessor, thereby opening the door for people to kill themselves who are not in a sound state of mind. Other concerns listed by LifeNews include:
<ul>
<li>Allowing people with mental health disorders to die by assisted suicide</li>
<li>Requiring health care providers to falsify the death certificate</li>
<li>Providing legal protection for anyone who participates in the act</li>
<li>Negating conscience rights for health care providers by forcing them to refer for assisted suicide</li>
<li>Using the undefined term &#8220;foreseeable future&#8221; for terminal illness</li>
</ul>
Should the bill pass the State House and Senate, the newly-elected governor of New Mexico, Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, has already expressed her support for <a href="https://alexschadenberg.blogspot.com/2018/10/michelle-lujan-grisham-would-legalize.html">the legalization of assisted suicide</a>.
The bill comes at a time when the U.S. suicide rate has reached a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/38845/us-suicide-rate-highest-50-years-driving-down-life-paul-bois">50 year high to the point of lowering the overall life expectancy rate</a>. Assisted suicide has been legalized in Oregon, Washington state, California, <a href="https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/colorado-assisted-suicide-vote">Colorado</a>, Vermont, <a href="https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/hawaii-legalizes-assisted-suicide">Hawaii</a>, and the <a href="https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/assisted-suicide-becomes-legal-in-dc-next-week-thanks-to-congressional-inac">District of Columbia</a>.
While the &#8220;Death with Dignity&#8221; advocates claim that assisted suicide and euthanasia are &#8220;quick and painless&#8221; ways for the terminally ill to pass on, the science in the matter is not quite as simple.
According to a recent study by two physicians in <a href="https://www.mdmag.com/medical-news/twelve-myths-concerning-medical-aid-in-dying-or-physicianassisted-suicide">MD Magazine</a>, not all procedures go as quickly or as peacefully as advertised. In fact, some assisted suicides can last up to four days after ingesting lethal drugs, with patients dying slow, agonizing deaths. Published by Dr. Ronald W. Pies and Dr. Annette Hanson, the pair <a href="https://www.mdmag.com/medical-news/twelve-myths-concerning-medical-aid-in-dying-or-physicianassisted-suicide">debunked 12 common myths</a> associated with physician-assisted suicide (PAD).
Noting that assisted suicide in no way guarantees &#8220;a peaceful death,&#8221; the physicians warned that those who support the practice &#8220;need to consider how to address the potential for adverse outcomes, including longer time to death than expected (up to 24 hours or more), awakening from unconsciousness, nausea, vomiting, and gasping.&#8221;
Probing several cases between 1998 and 2005, the doctors cited 27 out of 994 PAS cases &#8220;involved difficulty ingesting or regurgitating the drugs, and there were 6 known instances in which patients regained consciousness after ingesting the drugs.&#8221;
&#8220;However, it is difficult to know the actual rate of drug-induced complications, because in the majority (54%) of cases between 1998 and 2015, no health care professional was present to attend and observe the patient&#8217;s death,&#8221; they explained.
Actual physicians are not always in attendance during the procedure, which is sometimes administered by subordinates, so &#8220;the possibility of abuse&#8212;eg, by coercive family members&#8212;cannot be adequately assessed.&#8221;
UPDATE: Alex Schadenberg, Executive Director for the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, recently <a href="http://alexschadenberg.blogspot.com/2019/01/new-mexico-assisted-suicide-bill-is.html">amended a previous report</a> to clarify that HB 90 does not permit &#8220;suicide tourism.&#8221; Report below:
On December 26 I published an article stating that the New Mexico assisted suicide bill (<a href="https://www.nmlegis.gov/Sessions/19%20Regular/bills/house/HB0090.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">HB 90</a>) may allow assisted suicide tourism. My article was wrong.
New Mexico <a href="https://www.nmlegis.gov/Sessions/19%20Regular/bills/house/HB0090.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">assisted suicide Bill HB 90</a> is a dangerous assisted suicide bill and it is also written in an awkward manner.
All assisted suicide bills include a list of requirements to approve a person for a lethal prescription. That list always includes &#8230; a residency requirement.
For instance, the <a href="https://www.oregon.gov/oha/PH/PROVIDERPARTNERRESOURCES/EVALUATIONRESEARCH/DEATHWITHDIGNITYACT/Pages/ors.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Oregon</a><a href="https://www.oregon.gov/oha/PH/PROVIDERPARTNERRESOURCES/EVALUATIONRESEARCH/DEATHWITHDIGNITYACT/Pages/ors.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> assisted suicide act</a> states that a &#8220;Qualified patient&#8221; means a capable adult who is a resident of Oregon.
HB 90 has a list of requirements but it does not include a residency requirement. But <a href="https://www.nmlegis.gov/Sessions/19%20Regular/bills/house/HB0090.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">HB 90</a> does define &#8220;Adult&#8221; as a resident of the state who is eighteen years of age or older.
A problem exists. Section 3 in HB 90, describes the qualifications for assisted suicide, but it does not use the term &#8220;Adult,&#8221; it uses the term &#8220;individual.&#8221;
The term &#8220;Adult&#8221; only shows up in the form: REQUEST FOR MEDICATION TO END MY LIFE IN A PEACEFUL MANNER. This is the form for requesting assisted suicide that says: 
I &#8230; am an adult of sound mind.
In fact the form requesting assisted suicide is the only time HB 90 uses the word &#8220;Adult.&#8221;

‘Death with Dignity’ Advocates Have Found A Loophole To Legalize It In All 50 States (UPDATE: Not Quite)

Suicide

The Southwest states feature a number of key races: at least two Senate races are key to the GOP&#8217;s chances of either holding on to the Senate or increasing their lead. Two key GOP seats are at stake; in Arizona, GOP candidate Congresswoman Martha McSally is in a tightly contested race with Democratic Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema for the seat vacated by GOP Senator Jeff Flake; in Nevada incumbent GOP Senator Dean Heller is locked in a combative race with Democratic challenger Jacky Rosen. In Utah, former GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romey is a shoo-in to win the Senate seat vacated by GOP Senator Orrin Hatch; there is no Senate race in Oklahoma, and in New Mexico, incumbent Democratic Senator Martin Heinrich is running for reelection against Republican nominee Mick Rich, a businessman, and Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson, who served twice as GOP Governor of the state. In all polls, Heinrich has a commanding lead.
Key House races in the five states include Arizona&#8217;s 2nd district, where GOP candidate Lea Marquez Peterson is facing Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick for the House seat vacated by Martha McSally; Utah&#8217;s 4th district, where GOP incumbent Mia Love is running against Democrat Ben McAdams; Nevada&#8217;s 3rd district
New Mexico&#8217;s 2nd district is another key race: Susie Lee, a Democrat, is facing Republican Danny Tarkanian for the House seat held by Democrat Jacky Rosen, who is challenging Dean Heller, and Nevada&#8217;s 4th district, where GOP candidate Cresent Hardy is facing off against Democrat Steven Horsford.
All times EST
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In Oklahoma, in the race to replace Republican Governor Mary Fallin, with 63% of precincts reporting, GOP candidate Kevin Stitt leads his Democratic opponent, Drew Edmondson, 55%-41%. Four of the five house districts are being won by Republicans, and the fifth is a nail-biter, in the 5th district.

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ELECTION NIGHT: Southwest States, All The Latest Results

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New Mexico

Sheriff Remains Defiant After New Mexico Governor Sues To Enforce Coronavirus Lockdown

Restaurant’s Food Permit Suspended For Allegedly Violating Coronavirus Restrictions Months After Owner Put Up Sign Blaming China For Virus

Border Patrol Agent Found Dead On Remote Trail In New Mexico

Ex-CIA Agent Valerie Plame Lost Her Congressional Bid In The New Mexico Primary

‘Non-Essential’ Store Opened During Lockdown To Sell Democrat Governor Lujan Grisham Jewelry, Report Says

New Mexico County: Businesses Can Open, But Please, No ‘Snitching’

‘Let State Police Come Down Here’: NM Mayor Defies Governor To Reopen His City; Governor Threatens Action

State Senator Faces Jail For Drunk Driving That Caused Crash

New Mexico Mayor Charged With Multiple Felonies Including Bribery And Abuse Of Power

DOJ: We Arrested 327 Violent Offenders Who Had Fled From Justice In New Mexico

HAMMER: Why Is No One Discussing The Drug Trafficking Aspect Of Our Southern Border Crisis?

New Mexico Governor Jumps In On Kaepernick-Nike Action Amid Flag Controversy

CBP Reports Staggering Number Of Memorial Day Apprehensions

WATCH: Democrat Claims She Didn’t Read All Of Virulent Anti-Semitic Piece She Retweeted. Then She Is Asked This.

4-H Event Teaching Students About Horses Booted To Make Room For Asylum-Seekers

Albuquerque Man Allegedly Threatens To Blow Up Gas Station, Trump; Goes On Anti-American Rant

U.S. City Declares Itself A ‘Sanctuary City For The Unborn’

WATCH: New Mexico Gov Protests Trump By Literally Running Through Wall, Vowing To Pull Troops From Border

‘Death with Dignity’ Advocates Have Found A Loophole To Legalize It In All 50 States (UPDATE: Not Quite)

ELECTION NIGHT: Southwest States, All The Latest Results

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