Crooked Bough News Round-up

— Judge sides with plaintiffs in Yazzie/Martinez NM education equity case

 

at 4/29/25 4:40pm

Wilhelmina Yazzie and Polk Middle School teacher Travis McKenzie embrace Tuesday April 29, 2025, celebrating a district court judge's order siding with plaintiffs' request the state create a plan for achieving better outcomes for Native American, disabled, low-income and English-learning students. (Danielle Prokop / Source NM) A New Mexico district court judge on Tuesday found that the Public Education Department has not complied with previous orders in the Yazzie/Martinez education equity case and ordered the state to begin the process for creating a plan to rectify the situation. Parties in the more than 10-year-old Yazzie/Martinez case returned to court  after plaintiffs filed a motion of non-compliance in September 2024, pointing to continued poor student outcomes, high turnover within the PED and high teacher vacancy rates. First Judicial District Court Judge Matthew Wilson concurred and said the state needs a plan to ensure progress is made and tracked. “A court-ordered plan would provide guidance to the Legislature and the executive branches of government, particularly when making difficult budgetary decisions that need to survive political and economic shifts,” Wilson said during the hearing. Plaintiffs’ legal counsel had proposed appointing the Legislative Education Study Committee to lead the development of the plan because the department has permanent staff and access to educational research. However, Wilson said because the LESC is not party to the case, he does not have the authority to direct them to create a plan. Instead, PED is tasked with developing a plan and LESC can provide input.  Wilson gave the PED until July 1 to identify an “outside expert and consultant to assist” in developing the plan and to file a status report with the court. The state then has until Oct. 1 to develop a draft report and file another status report with the state, “taking into consideration all of the components and elements raised by the plaintiffs in their briefing.” Wilson said the final plan must be completed by Nov. 3 and filed for the court’s review.  The plaintiffs outlined a proposed plan with nine goals to address the needs of Native American students, low income students, English language learners and students with disabilities.  A PED spokesperson told Source NM that the department welcomes Wilson’s decision. According to court documents, the PED did not object to creating a plan, but objected to the LESC taking the lead in the process. “Improving student outcomes is central to our mission and this plan will support lasting improvements to our educational system,” the PED told Source in a written statement. The department also said the state has “substantially increased funding” and the department has made “significant steps” to improve student outcomes and teacher recruitment. Melissa Candelaria, education director for the NM Center on Law and Poverty, which represents the plaintiffs, said plaintiffs still see the court’s decision as a “victory” because LESC will still be involved. She said the plaintiffs will be involved as well, because Wilson ordered that stakeholders be consulted. She said the plaintiffs will need continued support “as we go forward in holding the state accountable in implementmenting the plan and ensuring that the voices are at the table in the development of the plan, as the court said just a little while ago,” Candelaria said during a news conference following the court’s decision. Wilhelmina Yazzie (Diné), one of the original plaintiffs, was emotional following the court’s decision.  “I think its about time, and I really am staying positive. As I mentioned, my boys were young when we started this, now theyre young adults,” Yazzie told Source NM.  Danielle Prokop contributed to the reporting of this story. GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE

[Category: Education, Gov & Politics, disabled students, education equity, English language learners, LESC, low income students, Native American students, New Mexico Public Education Department, NM Center on Law and Poverty, Wilhelmina Yazzie, Yazzie-Martinez lawsuit]

— Stanford researcher: U.S. at a ‘tipping point on’ measles resurgence

 

at 4/29/25 4:37pm

Blood sample positive with Measles virus. (iStock / Getty Images Plus)A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that the current measles outbreak marks the second highest annual case count in 25 years, and more than 80% of the nearly 900 current cases are associated with the “ongoing outbreak in close-knit communities with low vaccination coverage” in New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. Overall, 96% of the cases have been among people confirmed as unvaccinated, or with unknown vaccination records. As of Tuesday, New Mexico had 66 cases, with no new ones reported yet this week. Most of the state’s cases are in Lea County, just across the state line from Gaines County, Texas, where the outbreak began in mid-February. Measles, one of the most contagious diseases known to science, is a respiratory virus which is spread through contact with droplets from an infected person’s speech, coughs or sneezes. Symptoms, such as fever, headache, red eyes, runny nose, and a spotty red rash, can take weeks to develop. People can spread measles days before they show symptoms. Heath officials say the best prevention from measles infection is two doses of vaccination. From Feb. 1 to April 25, 20,304 New Mexicans received a dose of the measles vaccine statewide, nearly double the 10,860 people over the same time last year, according to the New Mexico Department of Health. The national vaccination rate has slipped from 90.8% for one dose of measles, mumps and rubella, below the 95% threshold to prevent outbreaks from spreading. In 2000, after decades of vaccination, the CDC declared measles eliminated in the U.S., but if current vaccination rates continue, or decline further, measles may become commonplace again, according to research co-authored by Dr. Nathan Lo, an infectious diseases physician-scientist at Stanford University. “It was striking for us, just seeing how much the U.S. was at this tipping point for measles, where small declines in vaccination can put us very certainly on the path for measles returning,” Lo told Source NM in a phone call. “But also, small increases in vaccines can push us back into safe territory.” In research published in the academic journal JAMA last week, Lo and other researchers at Stanford used mathematical models to estimate how four serious diseases eliminated by vaccines in the U.S. (measles, rubella, polio and diphtheria) might reemerge based on vaccination rates. The models run thousands of simulations, projecting what the changes look like in the next 25 years. A 10% decrease in people choosing to vaccinate could spur an estimated 11 million measles cases over 25 years in the U.S. Even at the current levels of vaccination, measles could reestablish itself in the U.S. with hundreds of thousands of cases over 25 years. “We’re still very likely on the path toward measles return, but it won’t happen for sometime,” Lo said, estimating that reemergence is about 20 years away. The state with the highest risk of measles: Texas. This is in part due to declines in vaccination rates, but also due to its large cities with international travel and demographic features, such as the age of the population. As for New Mexico, Lo said: “One of the risks is being next to Texas, I think that’s been made clear.” Prevalent measles infections would mean preventable illness-related deaths, often in children, and long-term injuries such as brain damage, he said. “There’s a number of rare but real neurologic complications that happen from measles; some of which are universally fatal and many of which lead to lifelong-disability,” he said. “Those are the really unfathomable types of outcomes we hope don’t come to pass.” For the other childhood diseases to reemerge, there would need to be a significant drop in vaccination rates, such as a 30% to 40% decline, he said. That’s unlikely to happen without big policy shifts from the federal government, Lo said, such as changes to the childhood vaccine schedule, reducing potency of vaccines or revoking vaccines’ uses. “Suddenly, those scenarios of vaccine decline suggest that even rubella, polio and their really awful clinical complications such as babies born with birth defects and people living with lifelong paralysis or even dying, becomes much more of a risk,” Lo said. Lo said he hopes that not just policy makers, but parents and people considering getting a vaccine hear about the research. “A small fraction of the population can really make a difference here,” he said. GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE

[Category: Health, Measles in New Mexico, measles outbreak, measles vaccine, MMR vaccine, Stanford University]

— New Mexico joins suit against Trump administration over cuts to AmeriCorps

 

at 4/29/25 3:40pm

New Mexico AG Raúl Torrez announced on April 29 the state had joined a multi-state coalition suing the Trump administration over cuts to AmeriCorps.New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez on Tuesday announced the state has joined a multi-coalition suing the Trump administration over cuts to grants and staffing for AmeriCorps, an independent federal agency for public service. According to the complaint, at the behest of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, AmeriCorps leadership placed all members serving in the National Civilian Community Corps on leave and told them their participation in the program would end on April 30; placed 85% of its staff on administrative leave and subsequently sent them reduction in force notices. Leadership then began notifying State Service Commissions, which distribute AmeriCorps grants, that $400 million worth of AmeriCorps programs were immediately terminated. “AmeriCorps is a vital public service program in our country, and its sudden dismantling is not only reckless—it’s unlawful,” Torrez said in a statement. “Here in New Mexico, these cuts will hurt students, families, and underserved communities who rely on AmeriCorps-supported programs for education, housing, and critical community services. I’m proud to stand with my colleagues to defend this agency and protect the federal commitment to service, equity, and local resilience.” According to a news release, New Mexico on April 25 received notice from the federal government of termination of its AmeriCorps grant programs, which support volunteer and service effort. The more than $2 million in AmeriCorps grants will impact a variety of programs in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Las Vegas, Taos and Ruidoso, as well as programs serving rural, tribal and underserved populations across the state. The funding went to programs that include: culturally responsive education, after-school and youth mentoring programs, special education services, teacher preparation, environmental conservation, and housing and support for at-risk and homeless youth. U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), described as the first AmeriCorps member to serve in the U.S. Senate, said in a statement that AmeriCorps participants do critical work in New Mexico, connecting veterans to services, helping fight the opioid epidemic, helping older adults age with dignity, and rebuilding communities after disasters. I will not stand idly by as Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and DOGE dismantle these programs in order to line the pockets of billionaires.

[Category: Gov & Politics, AG Raul Torrez, ameriCorps, DOGE, Martin Heinrich, Trump, volunteerism]

— U.S. House GOP starts reconciliation work with increase for border security

 

at 4/29/25 3:17pm

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, joined by GOP Reps. Lisa McClain of Michigan and Troy Downing of Montana, speaks at a news conference following a meeting of the House Republican Conference on April 29, 2025. House Republicans began the process of approving a massive bill to support President Donald Trump’s priorities on the 100th day of second presidency Tuesday. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans on Tuesday kicked off their work to build consensus on “one big, beautiful bill,” to fund President Donald Trump ‘s priorities, including a major funding boost for immigration enforcement and border security.  After returning from a two-week recess, House lawmakers started debating and amending the various sections of the bill with markups in the Armed Services, Education and Workforce, and Homeland Security committees. Congressional Republicans are using reconciliation — a special procedure that skirts the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster — to put together one bill to fulfill the White House’s priorities on border security, tax cuts, energy policy and defense. The Homeland panel’s bill, which would increase funding for border security by $70 billion, aligns with Trump’s second-term agenda, which has centered on an immigration crackdown. The Homeland Security portion of the reconciliation package recommends $46.5 billion to construct a barrier along U.S. borders and $5 billion for Customs and Border Protection facilities, including $4.1 billion to hire 3,000 Border Patrol agents and 5,000 CBP officers. It would also set aside $2 billion for retention and signing bonuses for CBP staff.   “It is critical that the Republican majority do what the people elected us to do, approve funds for effective border security and enforcement measures,” House Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green of Tennessee said. The bill also includes $2.7 billion in technology surveillance along U.S. borders and roughly $1 billion for inspection technology at ports of entry.  The top Democrat on the committee, Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, said Democrats were unified in their opposition to the proposal. He argued that roughly $70 billion in funding would only aid the Trump administration in its plans of mass deportation and not address border security. “House Republican leadership is putting lipstick on this pig of a reconciliation package by pretending it’s about border security,” Thompson said. Votes on all three committees’ bills, and amendments mostly from Democrats raising objections to the package, were expected late Tuesday or after midnight Wednesday. The committees are not expected to adopt any of the Democratic amendments. Summer floor votes Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Tuesday he expects the House will spend the rest of this week and next week debating the 11 different bills in committee before rolling them all into one reconciliation package. The full House will debate and vote to approve the legislation before Memorial Day, under the current timeline. “I don’t know how long the Senate is going to take to do their piece,” Johnson said. “But I was very encouraged after the meeting yesterday, frankly. Leader (John) Thune and Sen. (Mike) Crapo are on point. The Senate Republicans have been working very hard together.” Thune, of South Dakota, is the Senate majority leader and Crapo, of Idaho, chairs the tax-writing Finance Committee. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said the administration would like the package to clear Congress before the Fourth of July, though Johnson said he “hopes” to finalize a deal before that deadline. Thune said later Tuesday that the reconciliation package’s final look will be decided by what policies have the votes to get through each chamber. “Ultimately, what gets included in a reconciliation bill will be determined by what there are 218 votes for in the House and 51, or 50, votes for in the United States Senate,” Thune said. Democrats object to deportations Democrats on the Homeland Security panel introduced amendments to signal their opposition to the administration’s deportation agenda. Louisiana Rep. Troy Carter was one of several Democrats to sharply criticize the recent deportation of three U.S. citizen children to Honduras during the Homeland Security Committee’s markup. He noted that one of the children removed with his mother to Honduras, is a 4-year-old battling Stage 4 cancer. “This is not border security,” Carter said. “This is state-sanctioned trauma. Democrats introduced amendments to bar federal funds being used to detain immigrants at a foreign prison, following an agreement between the U.S. and El Salvador to detain more than 300 men in a notorious mega-prison. Experts have raised concerns the agreement could violate a law against funding foreign governments engaged in human rights abuses. “This is not an idle possibility,” Democratic Rep. Seth Magaziner of Rhode Island said. He pointed out that Trump asked El Salvador’s president Nayib Bukele to consider taking “homegrown” criminals, meaning U.S. citizens. “This is insane,” Magaziner said. “It is outrageous and every American should be terrified by this prospect.” Several other Democrats introduced amendments related to the Trump administration’s use of the prison in El Salvador. Boost for Pentagon The House Armed Services Committee portion of the reconciliation package would bolster defense spending by $150 billion over the next decade. That funding would be divvied up between numerous national security priorities, including $25 billion for Trump’s goal of having a countrywide missile defense system, similar to Israel’s Iron Dome. The defense bill would appropriate $34 billion for shipbuilding and the maritime industrial base, $21 billion for munitions purchases, $14 billion for “initiatives to scale production of game changing new technology,” $13 billion for nuclear deterrence and $12 billion to enhance military readiness, according to a GOP summary of that bill.  Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala., said at the beginning of his committee’s markup that the bill would make a “generational investment in our national security.” “It is clear we are no longer deterring our adversaries,” Rogers said. “The threats we face today from China, Russia, Iran and North Korea and others, are much more serious and challenging than we have ever faced before.” Washington Democratic Rep. Adam Smith, ranking member on the panel, said there’s “no question that the Department of Defense has needs and there’s also no question that we as a country face threats.” But Smith criticized Republicans for moving the defense funding boost within the massive reconciliation package, which will increase the deficit. “We’re, once again, saying to the American people, ‘This is important but not important enough to actually pay for it.’ So the budget itself is a huge problem,” Smith said. “And you really can’t support the additional $150 billion for defense if you don’t support the overall reconciliation bill because that’s what this is. And the overall reconciliation bill, I firmly believe, is a disaster for this country.” Smith criticized Republicans for proposing additional dollars for the Pentagon while it is run by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who is under investigation for sending information about a bombing campaign in Yemen to a group chat that inadvertently included a journalist and a different group chat that included his wife, brother and others. “They have not even begun to prove that there is a chance in hell that they will spend this money intelligently, efficiently and effectively,” Smith said. “Secretary Hegseth has proven himself to be completely incapable of doing the job of secretary of Defense.” Cuts for Pell grants The Education and Workforce Committee’s markup fell along similar partisan lines, with GOP lawmakers lauding the bill and Democrats rejecting Republicans’ plans seeking to overhaul federal spending. Chairman Tim Walberg, R-Mich., said the legislation would cut $330 billion in federal spending over the next decade by reshaping federal student loan programs and Pell grants for low-income students, among several other changes. “Dumping more federal money into a broken system doesn’t mean that system will work,” Walberg said. “In fact, government spending on higher education has reached record highs, yet millions of students benefiting from those funds will ultimately end up with a degree that doesn’t pay off or fail to finish school altogether.” The GOP bill, he said, would “bring much-needed reform in three key areas: simplified loan repayment, streamlined student loan options, and accountability for students and taxpayers.” Walberg scolded former President Joe Biden for not working with Congress to overhaul federal grant and loan programs for higher education, saying the former administration “was determined to keep pouring taxpayer funds into the abyss in a futile attempt to keep up with the unacceptable and unaccountable institutional prices.” Virginia Democratic Rep. Bobby Scott, ranking member, said that Congress should look at ways to make college more affordable through reforms, but said the GOP bill “misses the mark.” “This current reconciliation plan would increase costs for colleges and students. It would limit students access to quality programs, which would then reduce their likelihood of finding a rewarding or successful career,” Scott said. “And then take the so-called savings to pay for more tax cuts for the wealthy and the well-connected.” Republicans “limiting the students’ access to Pell grants and federal loans,” he said, could increase the number of people who have to rely on “predatory, private loans” to pay for college. “Put bluntly: The Republican plan will limit how much money middle- and low-income students can borrow from the federal government,” Scott said. “As a result, limiting the federal student aid that students can receive means that millions of students will not be able to access federal assistance that they need to complete their degrees. Moreover, this bill will force student borrowers into unaffordable repayment plans.”

[Category: DC Bureau, Gov & Politics]

— Sanctuary cities need to stand together against Trump’s temper tantrum

 

at 4/29/25 2:51pm

Sanctuary city concept and illegal immigration law government enforcement policies as a highway sign directing to welcoming immigrants with no legal status as a 3D illustration. (Getty Images)On April 28, the president issued an executive order titled “Protecting American Communities from Criminal Aliens.” The order on its face is a screed against so-called sanctuary cities. It directs the attorney general to compile a list of sanctuary jurisdictions around the U.S. and, among other things, threatens to withhold federal funding from them. To me, an attorney in a city with a long, proud history of welcoming and protecting people from all over the world, the executive order reads like a temper tantrum.  There isn’t a universal definition for a sanctuary city. The term refers to a non-federal jurisdiction — it could be a state, a county, or a city or town — that has laws in place that limit its government’s cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Communities choose these policies for a variety of reasons: to build trust and cooperation between officials and non-citizens; to maintain discretion of how to allocate limited law enforcement resources for public safety; and because they don’t want to be in the business of hunting down their neighbors for deportation. Trump administration officials assert that sanctuary policies make our communities less safe. They point to highly publicized murders of American citizens at the hands of non-citizens and they allege the presence of transnational criminal organizations and terrorists in our communities. But research bears out that places with sanctuary policies have lower crime rates than places without them. Sanctuary policies encourage participation in community policing by all members of the community and engagement with social services and community and economic development initiatives that mitigate poverty. The most recent executive order asserts that sanctuary policies are  “lawless insurrection against the supremacy of Federal law and the Federal Government’s obligation to defend the territorial sovereignty of the United States.” The Trump administration may feel that way — so many of its recent executive orders are more about feelings than what is actually legal — but courts have consistently held otherwise.  Sanctuary policies do not explicitly interfere with immigration enforcement. They do not impede the Department of Homeland Security’s ability to arrest, detain and deport non-citizens and they do not shield or harbor those individuals from law enforcement. Refusing to cooperate within this legal framework does not prevent Immigration and Customs Enforcement or other federal agencies from doing their job; it just says: We’re not going to use our resources to do this job for you.  This distinction is important because it is constitutionally protected. The 10th amendment has what’s called the “anti-commandeering” doctrine. What that means is that the federal government cannot conscript states and local governments to enforce federal laws. Courts have long held that sanctuary policies are protected by the 10th amendment.  This is why the Trump administration is attempting to use withholding of federal funds to compel jurisdictions with sanctuary policies to comply and cooperate. It’s not unlike the threats to withhold federal funding from universities who are unwilling to bend the knee to the administration. But, with respect to sanctuary cities, this issue was litigated during the first Trump administration and a federal judge ruled against withholding funds saying: Federal funding that bears no meaningful relationship to immigration enforcement cannot be threatened merely because a jurisdiction chooses an immigration enforcement strategy of which the President disapproves.” That same judge granted an injunction on April 24 against the Trump administrations attempt to withhold funds from sanctuary cities.   This explains the tantrum. Kinder people can call it political theater but it is just a tantrum. We are starting to see a pattern of the president lashing out at people, companies, universities, states, or even countries that don’t immediately bend the knee to his demands. Mass deportation is a marquis issue for the second Trump administration and whether threatening sanctuary jurisdictions, denying due process or ignoring court orders, officials are having to result in increasingly illegal strategies to implement it. As desperation grows, the administration is escalating baseless propaganda about non-citizens being heinous criminals or terrorists. Sanctuary jurisdictions have a legally protected right to stand up and say, ‘we don’t buy it.’ Sanctuary jurisdictions know what healthy and safe communities look like, which is why voters support the policies.  There are challenges ahead for our leaders. In our sanctuary communities, we need to lean into the instincts that told us we will never be safer by throwing our neighbors under the bus and stand up with other cities against these threats. We know we are always stronger together, thats why we passed sanctuary policies in the first place. And the law is on our side. We refuse to cooperate with the federal government’s orders to help detain and deport our neighbors and we must also refuse to back down as the threats escalate — no matter how angry it makes our tantrum-throwing president. 

[Category: Commentary, executive orders, immigration, public safety, sanctuary cities, Trump]

— U.S. Rep. Stansbury on New Mexico fire season: ‘We are not prepared’ 

 

at 4/29/25 2:33pm

U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-NM) asks questions during a Federal Lands Subcommittee meeting Tuesday in Washington. (Photo by Patrick Lohmann / Source NM)WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-NM) on Tuesday chastised the United States Forest Service for refusing to publicly detail how staffing and other cuts could affect the federal response to wildfires expected soon in New Mexico and elsewhere.  Stansbury directed her comments to Forest Service Associate Deputy Chief Ellen Shultzabarger, during the latter’s testimony to the U.S. House Federal Lands Subcommittee, on which Stansbury and fellow New Mexico Democrat Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández serve. Shultzaberger was there speaking in favor of a pair of bills that would allow specific, small pieces of federal forest land to be returned to states and cities, when questions from committee Democrats steered the conversation toward the upcoming wildfire season.  “We are continuing to hire to have that goal of 11,300 operational firefighters, and we feel that well be ready for the fire season,” Shultzabarger said.  “With all due respect,” Stansbury responded, “Ive been on the ground for the last couple of months, and Forest Service employees are terrified theyre going to lose their jobs, people are leaving in large numbers and thousands of people have been fired and not rehired. So while I appreciate that that is the company line here in this hearing, and I understand the position that youre in, it’s just factually untrue. We are not prepared for this fire season.” ‘Stonewalling’: Forest Service mum on firings during wildfire briefing for congressional staff Dozens of probationary Forest Service employees across New Mexico were fired or resigned since President Donald Trump took office. While judicial orders required the Trump administration to rehire those employees, many who tried to return were simply placed on paid administrative leave.  While Forest Service officials have stressed that the mass firings were not aimed at employees whose sole job is dealing with wildfire, some outside estimates suggest three-quarters of those fired had “red cards,” meaning they could be called to help suppress a wildfire if one breaks out. A Colorado Democrat on the committee, Joe Neguse, estimated that 3,000 red card holders were fired.  Meanwhile, Forest Service employees are awaiting the results of a “reduction-in-force” restructuring process that could take out another chunk of employees who are not on probationary status. Forest Service Associate Deputy Chief Ellen Shultzabarger, left, stands up after speaking before the Federal Lands Subcommittee on in the House of Representatives on Tuesday. (Photo by Patrick Lohmann / Source NM) Asked about Stansbury’s comments after the meeting, Shultzabarger did not answer, instead deferring to Forest Service spokesperson Kyle Earnest, who did not provide further comment.  Source New Mexico caught up with Stansbury after the hearing in Washington and asked her about the upcoming wildfire season, which forecasts predict could be dire and federal stonewalling on what used to be basic information.  The following conversation took place during a short walk from the Capitol and has been edited for clarity and concision. Source: Do you have any sense at all of what we could be looking at with reduction in force in New Mexico forests, in terms of employees lost? MS: We have not received any specific plans. The New Mexico national forests have been heavily impacted by all the mass firings that have happened. The probationary firing that happened at the beginning of the DOGE effort resulted in dozens and dozens, both senior and junior, Forest Service employees, receiving notice that theyve been fired. A lot of senior Forest Service officials did take the initial deferred departure offer, and we know that there is a RIF restructuring that is coming, but theres been nothing released publicly, and theres been nothing released internally.  And so when I was home in New Mexico last week, during my town halls, I had Forest Service employees actually come to my town halls and speak to me privately about whats happening. Theres a complete culture of fear. Nobody has any idea whats going on. A lot of people are afraid theyre going to lose their jobs. …Weve been heavily and disproportionately impacted. So we dont have specific numbers, but we know that the entire workforce is in chaos and struggling right now. Do you know the status of the interagency wildfire dispatch centers, including the one thats in the Cibola National Forest office, which is on the DOGE termination list? I dont have any specific details. I mean, one of the things that I think has been really troubling about this entire DOGE exercise is that they claim that theyre doing it with transparency, and yet they refuse to come testify in front of Congress. They dont even send political appointees to testify. Today, they sent a career staffer rather than a political appointee. And they transmit no information to congressional offices. And, you know, I say this all the time, but this is not normal.  Heinrich gets ‘assurances’ that NM fire dispatch centers won’t close, but waiting on official word In past administrations, regardless of what side of the aisle you are on, it has always been the norm and the practice that if youre going to make a major change to a district, you notify the congressional offices, you notify the local officials, you notify towns and counties in the state, because all of them are impacted, and theres zero communication at all between the administration DOG and local authorities, so we have no idea what theyre doing. Do you think well learn more in the presidents budget to be released this week about how those cuts will affect the New Mexico forests? I dont know. The word on the street is that the budget that will be transmitted this week is what theyre calling a skinny budget. So it will say, you know, [the] Forest Service’s budget is XYZ. Its cut by XYZ amount and these programs, but I doubt itll have the level of detail that you see in a more fully fledged budget, where it describes in detail what their plans are.  We ran into New Mexico State Forester Laura McCarthy near the Capitol, who told us she was here ‘lobbying’ but would not say for what bill or issue. Do you know? She’s here? Wow, OK, I’m going to text her. Im very good friends with Laura. My background is in water resources management, and she and I collaborated a lot on forest and water management in previous lives. So no, I dont know what shes up to here. But what I can say in general is that both states and tribes have been heavily impacted by the funding freezes. In fact, just yesterday, Mescalero Apache had a huge forest greenhouse project that had been on hold since the beginning of the Trump administration because they had frozen a [Bureau of Indian Affairs] grant they had received, and it was critical to growing seedlings for reforestation after these big fires, and they just found out yesterday that it had gotten unfrozen.  Long-stalled NM uranium mines now ‘priority projects’ at Cibola Forest, leader tells employees So my guess is that the states and tribes and local authorities are trying to track down grants and federal funding. I think folks are very, very concerned about the upcoming fire season, as I mentioned in the hearing. We have the lowest snow pack in recorded history. And the thing to understand about that is it means that both the river is drying up already, which is unseasonably early, but it also means soil moisture and vegetation moisture is very low, which means basically the entire states a tinder box for the fire season. So if and when fires hit us, were at a very, very, extremely high risk for a really catastrophic fire season. And as you know, our communities are still reeling and recovering from the last major fires, and we cant do it without support from the Forest Service, FEMA and these programs that theyre talking about cutting. Its a bad situation. The Cibola Forest has recently listed a couple of uranium mines near Mount Taylor as priority projects. Do you think those uranium mines could become operational? Well, this administration is absolutely moving forward with stripping away protections for permitting and for national forests. They just issued guidance last week that would reduce all federal permitting to 28 days. In the case of, for example, Mount Taylor — which is not only set aside as national tourist land, but its also a sacred site for the pueblos and tribes of New Mexico — you cant do an environmental and cultural review in 28 days. Thats just going to result in lawsuits. I believe that the administration is going to do everything it can to green-light mining and extractive activities on sensitive lands, and we will fight them every step of the way.

[Category: Environment & Climate Change, Gov & Politics, Department of Government Efficiency, Rep. Melanie Stansbury, United States Forest Service]

— Former NM county judge, wife released from custody in federal case

 

at 4/29/25 1:25pm

U.S. Federal District Court in Las Cruces. (Photo by Leah Romero / Source NM)Former Doña Ana County Magistrate Court Judge Jose Luis “Joel” Cano and his wife, Nancy Cano, were released on separate $10,000 bonds Tuesday in connection to federal charges of tampering with evidence in an immigration case. The Canos appeared in U.S. Federal District Court in Las Cruces Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Gregory J. Fouratt. Joel Cano faces one charge of tampering with evidence while Nancy Cano faces a charge of conspiracy to tamper with evidence. The couple’s charges relate to their alleged connection to Cristhian Ortega-Lopez, a Venezuelan national prosecutors allege resides in the U.S. unlawfully and has connections to the Tren de Aragua gang.  The Canos have been in custody at the Doña Ana County Detention Center since Friday, according to the jail’s website. They appeared in court Tuesday in shackles, alongside over 70 other people facing criminal charges who were waiting to have their cases heard. The room had standing room only, and viewers included several of the Canos’ neighbors. Fouratt agreed to release both defendants on $10,000 secured bonds, on the condition that they: provide DNA samples; notify the court of any address changes; surrender their passports and eschew new travel documents; don’t associate with Ortega-Lopez and avoid contact with possible witnesses to the case; don’t leave Doña Ana County without his approval; and provide pretrial service officials with information about their renters. The Canos told Fouratt that they own nine rental properties and all but one are occupied. The judge said they must ensure they rent only to U.S. citizens or immigrants legally allowed to live in the U.S. Fouratt also said they must provide pretrial services with information about their renters and any overnight guests outside of immediate family. The judge permitted the couple to continue to reside together in their long-time home, despite prosecutors’ worries that they might discuss the case. Fouratt said he could not legally restrict topics of conversation between married couples.  “I want you to have a chance to convince any other judge you see” that the decisions the couple made related to this case were outside of their usual “decision-making,” Fouratt said during the hearing. The U.S. Department of Justice announced the charges against the Canos in the same news release in which they announced the arrest of a Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah C. Dugan for allegedly allowing a Mexican immigrant charged with domestic violence to temporarily avoid arrest by federal agents. The Canos have not yet entered pleas to the charges, and neither of them have yet been scheduled for an arraignment hearing, according to court records. GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE

[Category: Gov & Politics, Immigration]

— New Mexico lawmakers brace for steep cuts to federal funding 

 

at 4/29/25 12:16pm

New Mexico House Speaker Javier Martínez and Senate President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart and the rest of the Legislative Council on Monday voted to create the Federal Infrastructure Funds and Stability Interim Committee. (Photo by Austin Fisher / Source NM)New Mexico lawmakers this week rolled out a plan to help prepare for potential hefty reductions in federal funding. The Legislative Council, the group of state representatives and senators that oversees all lawmaking between New Mexicos legislative sessions, voted unanimously Monday afternoon at its first meeting following this years session to create a new panel called the Federal Infrastructure Funds and Stability Interim Committee.  House Speaker Javier Martínez and Senate President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart, both Albuquerque Democrats, told Source NM after the meeting that the committee, in a nutshell, will examine potential federal funding cuts and consider ways to adapt to them if they become real. For example, the committee will look at proposals to cut funding to Head Start, a child care and early education program. This week, U.S. Sens. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) joined 40 other senators in a letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. demanding he immediately unfreeze Head Start funding and reinstate early childhood education workers who have either been laid off or furloughed as result of closures of the preschools, which rely on federal funding. Similarly, the new legislative committee will track funds for Medicaid, the safety-net health insurance program for people with low incomes, Martínez said. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has said previously she might call a special session in the fall, should the state need to address federal shortcomings in programs such as Medicaid. The state also is also party to multi-state lawsuits challenging federal cuts. Its members will also consider the Trump administration’s proposal to abolish the federal Department of Education, Stewart said. Federal funding accounts for 30% of New Mexico’s education budget, she said, including money for special education. Stewart said the committee has no historical precedent in the New Mexico Legislature, noting “this is an ahistorical presidency.” The committee is intended to last for the remainder of the year, but could extend beyond that if needed, she said. YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE. SUPPORT Martínez told the Legislative Council the new committee will not duplicate the work being done by the Legislative Finance Committee and other legislative panels but, rather, supplement it with a “proactive approach to deal with any potential reductions in federal funding.” “It will be what I consider to be a very nuts-and-bolts committee, with a tailored, specific focus,” he said. Martínez appointed Rep. Patricia Lundstrom (D-Grants) as the panel’s co-chair from the House of Representatives, and Stewart appointed Sen. William Soules (D-Las Cruces) as the co-chair from the Senate. Attempts to reach Lundstrom and Soules for comment through spokespeople for their respective chambers were unsuccessful as of publication time. Other members of the new committee include Reps. Susan Herrera (D-Embudo), Micaela Lara Cadena (D-Las Cruces), Mark Duncan (R-Kirtland) and Cathrynn Brown (R-Carlsbad); and Sens. George Muñoz (D-Gallup), Linda Trujillo (D-Santa Fe), James Townsend (R-Artesia) and Minority Whip Pat Woods (R-Broadview). The panel is expected to hold an organizational meeting in May, Martínez said. GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE

[Category: Economy, Education, Gov & Politics, Health, Congress, Head Start, Medicaid]

— Relief on auto tariffs coming, Treasury secretary says

 

at 4/29/25 10:47am

New Nissan cars are driven onto a rail car to be transported from an automobile processing terminal located at the Port of Los Angeles on April 3, 2024. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent signaled a reprieve on auto tariffs will come Tuesday ahead of the president’s stop in Michigan to mark his first 100 days in office. Bessent and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order Tuesday curtailing the import taxes for domestic car manufacturers, but offered few specifics. The president’s 25% levy on cars and auto parts went into effect at the beginning of April. “I’m not going to go into the details of the auto tariff relief, but I can tell you that it will go substantially toward reshoring American auto manufacturing,” Bessent said. “And again, the goal here is to bring back the high-quality industrial jobs to the U.S.” The press secretary and Bessent began the day defending Trump’s trade policy as part of a weeklong morning press conference series marking the 100-day milestone in Trump’s second administration. Investors and businesses have been on edge since Trump declared foreign trade a national emergency on April 2 and imposed what he billed as “reciprocal” tariffs on nearly every nation. Trump issued a 90-day pause on the steep levies — some reaching nearly 50% — after trillions of dollars disappeared from U.S. and world markets in reaction to the dramatic policy. However, Trump dug in his heels on goods from China, increasing tariffs to 145%. Nearly all other countries face universal 10% baseline levy. No deals yet Nearly a month after the tariffs went into effect, Bessent told reporters the administration has not yet inked deals with any of the 17 trading partners, not counting China, currently in negotiations with the U.S. When pressed about a timeline for the deals, Bessent said Trump has created “strategic uncertainty” as a tool to get the best terms. “I think the aperture of uncertainty will be narrowing, and as we start moving toward announcing deals, then there will be certainty. But certainty is not necessarily a good thing in negotiating,” Bessent said. Bessent sidestepped questions about trade talks with China, saying he wouldn’t get “into the nitty-gritty of who’s talking to whom.” China has imposed 125% tariffs on U.S. goods and has denied any meaningful negotiations. “I think that, you know, over time, we will see that the Chinese tariffs are unsustainable for China,” Bessent said, adding that China sends more goods to the U.S. than Americans send to China. Americans’ approval of Trump’s job performance, particularly on economic policy, is lagging, according to numerous recent surveys. In response to a report that Amazon will highlight spikes in prices due to tariffs, Leavitt said the e-commerce behemoth was committing a “hostile and political act.” Punchbowl News reported the story Tuesday citing “a person familiar with the plan.” Tax cuts When asked about potential economic damage from business owners clamping down on hiring and growth, Bessent told reporters “tax cuts are coming.” The secretary said he and Trump met at the White House Monday with congressional Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana and Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota. Johnson and Thune have signaled different timelines — from Memorial Day to further into summer — for when Congress would finish a large budget reconciliation package, at the heart of which is Trump’s plan to extend his 2017 tax law. Bessent said Trump wants the tax bill to revive and expand full business expensing, meaning businesses could write off expenses for certain investments, like equipment. “The other thing that we are looking to add is full expensing for factories,” Bessent said. “So bring your factory back, you can fully expense the equipment and the building.”

[Category: DC Bureau, Gov & Politics]

— Complaint alleges Gallup-McKinley Schools superintendent violated state ethics laws

 

at 4/29/25 10:31am

(Image via New Mexico In Depth)Gallup-McKinley County Schools Superintendent Mike Hyatt is under scrutiny for alleged violations of state procurement and government ethics laws, following a complaint filed Monday with the New Mexico State Ethics Commission. Submitted on behalf of Stride, Inc. and its online education subsidiary, K12 Virtual Schools, the complaint alleges Hyatt sought a $235,000-per-year salary as Stride’s Vice President for Academic Innovation, while the company had an active contract with the school district—and when he was not hired for the position, Hyatt sought to terminate that contract. K12 provides online education for the district’s Destinations Career Academy of New Mexico. This story was originally published by New Mexico In Depth. “Superintendent Hyatt is apparently knowingly and willfully abusing his public position, at the expense of ~4,200 New Mexico students” who are enrolled in online schooling, the complaint alleged. In an email to New Mexico In Depth, Monday, Hyatt refuted the allegations, saying the company, not he, behaved in “illegal” and “unethical” ways, because of inadequate student-teacher ratios for their online courses. “We have recently found out the illegal [and] unethical practices of Stride and how they are profiting and increasing revenue by breaking the law in our online program,” Hyatt wrote. “We notified them of their wrongdoing and had previously notified them to not break the law when it comes to students teacher ratios.” The ethics complaint letter alleges that Hyatt potentially violated the New Mexico Government Conduct Act (GCA) and state procurement code. “The GCA has specific prohibitions against a public officer or employee seeking employment with a contractor who has a contract with the public officer or employee’s employer,” according to the complaint. “The Procurement Code similarly prohibits an employee who is participating directly or indirectly in the procurement process to become, or to be, while such an employee, the employee of any person or business contracting with the governmental body by whom the employee is employed.” The complaint was filed by attorney Laura E. Sanchez of the law firm Rodey, Dickason, Sloan, Akin & Robb, P.A., in Albuquerque. The New Mexico State Ethics Commission declined to comment on the complaint or its investigation plans. On Monday, Deputy Director Amelia Bierle told New Mexico In Depth in an email that the Commission does not comment on alleged ethics violations before investigations are concluded. Gallup-McKinley signed an Educational Products & Services Contract with K12 in June 2020. Hyatt was district superintendent. According to the company’s complaint letter, Hyatt applied for the company’s VP position on December 11, 2024 and was initially interviewed on Jan. 21, 2025. On Feb. 21, the company’s senior vice president of schools, Adam Hawf, spoke with Hyatt by phone to let him know he had not been hired. “Mr. Hawf called Superintendent Hyatt, as opposed to issuing him a formal letter, due to the sensitivity of the relationship and fear that Superintendent Hyatt would adversely affect the District’s relationship with the Contractor,” the complaint letter states. In his email to New Mexico In Depth, Monday, Hyatt confirmed, “I applied for a job there in 2024.” Less than a month after the call with Hawf, at a routine monthly meeting with the company on March 10, Hyatt’s demeanor had become “completely different than it had been in past meetings,” according to the complaint letter. “[T]he meeting was hostile […] instead of amicable and collaborative.” On April 1, Hyatt sent a breach of contract and termination letter to the company, citing several alleged contract breaches, including inadequate student-teacher ratios, teacher licensure, and problems with student achievement in Destinations Career Academy students. Three days later, Gallup-McKinley issued a request for proposals to find a new contractor. The termination letter violated a 45-day “cure” period for contractual disputes, the company contends. The complaint further alleges that Hyatt directed the district to issue the new request for proposals for virtual education services while Stride’s contract was still in effect, potentially violating its exclusivity provision. Hyatt knew previously about student-teacher ratio concerns, according to the complaint letter. “Superintendent Hyatt’s conduct after he was denied employment … shows that he is potentially abusing his authority, and not acting in the public interest,” the ethics complaint states. “He was aware of the alleged student-teacher ratios and the licensure issues prior to submitting his application for employment with the Contractor. He also served as a positive reference for the Contractor with the New Mexico PED [Public Education Department] on February 6, 2025 and for Ohio as recently as February 25, 2025, despite knowledge of the concerns he later raised in the letter to the Contractor on April 1, 2025.” The firm submitted 18 supporting documents with the ethics complaint, including emails and correspondence, the termination letter, and the request for proposals. The company has tried to address Hyatt’s concerns within the 45-day “cure period” set out in the contract but has been hindered by Gallup-McKinley since receiving the termination letter, according to the complaint. Examples include the district delaying teacher criminal history fingerprint clearances and refusing to sign off on teachers’ license extensions. “Out of desperation they are attempting to deflect the harm they have done […] and are trying to create a narrative that I by myself am trying to break a contract for personal reasons,” Hyatt wrote in his email to the news organization. “Nothing could be further from the truth.”

[Category: Gov & Politics, Gallup-McKinley Schools, Mike Hyatt, New Mexico State Ethics Commission]

— Trump orders list of ‘sanctuary cities’ to target for funding freeze

 

at 4/28/25 6:55pm

President Donald Trump speaks during an executive order signing in the Oval Office on Feb. 11, 2025. Trump signed two immigration-related orders on Monday in an event closed to press photographers. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Monday evening signed executive orders targeting so-called sanctuary cities by threatening to revoke federal funding and providing legal services and national security assets to law enforcement. The signings fell on the eve of Trump’s first 100 days of his second term, during which his administration has enacted an immigration crackdown that has led to clashes with the judiciary branch and cities that do not coordinate with federal immigration authorities, often referred to as “sanctuary cities.” “Some State and local officials nevertheless continue to use their authority to violate, obstruct, and defy the enforcement of Federal immigration laws,” according to the executive order regarding sanctuary cities. “This is a lawless insurrection against the supremacy of Federal law and the Federal Government’s obligation to defend the territorial sovereignty of the United States.” The order directs the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security to publicly list local jurisdictions that limit cooperation with immigration officials, but do not stop immigration enforcement. Jurisdictions on the list will then be reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget to “identify appropriate Federal funds to sanctuary jurisdictions, including grants and contracts, for suspension or termination, as appropriate.” This is not the first time the Trump administration has targeted jurisdictions that don’t fully cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.  The Justice Department recently filed a lawsuit against the city of Rochester, New York, over its immigration policies after local law enforcement did not assist federal immigration officials in an arrest. The Trump administration argued those ordinances in Rochester were impeding federal immigration enforcement. The president also signed an executive order in January that threatened to withhold federal funding from states and local governments that refused to aid in federal immigration enforcement activities. A federal judge in San Francisco last week blocked the Trump administration from withholding federal funds from 16 so-called sanctuary cities. Republicans have also scrutinized those policies, including during a six-hour hearing of the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that included grilling mayors from Boston, Chicago and Denver, on their cities’ immigration policies.  The executive order also aims to curb any federal benefits that may extend to people without permanent legal status. That executive order directed DOJ and DHS to “take appropriate action to stop the enforcement of State and local laws” that allow for students without proper legal authorization to receive in-state tuition, which would include those with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. Last week, administration officials cheered the FBI arrest of a Wisconsin judge who they say helped an immigrant in the country without legal authorization escape detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The arrest followed the third appearance by ICE officers seeking to make arrests at the Milwaukee County Courthouse, a practice some experts believe hinders local law enforcement. Law enforcement resources A second executive order Trump signed Monday provides legal resources for law enforcement officials “who unjustly incur expenses and liabilities for actions taken during the performance of their official duties to enforce the law.” The order also directs coordination among the departments of Justice, Defense and Homeland Security to “increase the provision of excess military and national security assets in local jurisdictions to assist State and local law enforcement.”  Earlier Monday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the executive order relating to law enforcement will “strengthen and unleash America’s law enforcement to pursue criminals and protect innocent citizens.”  

[Category: DC Bureau, Gov & Politics, alan webber, Albuquerque, New Mexico, sanctuary cities, Santa Fe, Tim Keller, Trump]

— Feds arrest former New Mexico judge and wife for alleged evidence tampering in immigration case

 

at 4/28/25 4:31pm

Jose Luis “Joel” Cano and Nancy Cano. (Photos courtesy of the Doña Ana County Detention Center)Federal authorities arrested a former New Mexico magistrate judge and his wife on April 24 on criminal charges of evidence tampering related to the prosecution of an alleged gang member from Venezuela. The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday announced it had charged former Doña Ana County Magistrate Jose Luis “Joel” Cano with one count of evidence tampering and his wife Nancy Cano with one count of conspiracy to tamper with evidence. Prosecutors allege that Jose Cano told Homeland Security Investigations agents that he had destroyed a cell phone belonging to Cristhian Ortega-Lopez, a Venezuelan national prosecutors allege has ties to the Tren de Aragua gang. HSI in February searched the Canos’ home and arrested Ortega-Lopez for illegal possession of guns and ammunition, according to the DOJ’s news release. The DOJ said agents seized three of Ortega-Lopez’s cell phones, but he told them about a fourth one, which prompted another search wherein Cano allegedly admitted to destroying it with a hammer. “Judges are responsible for upholding our country’s laws. It is beyond egregious for a former judge and his wife to engage in evidence tampering on behalf of a suspected Tren de Aragua gang member accused of illegally possessing firearms,” U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison for the District of New Mexico said in a statement. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to dismantling this foreign terrorist organization by disrupting its criminal operations in New Mexico. That starts by prosecuting those who support gang members — including judges.” The DOJ announced the charges against the Canos in the same news release in which they announced the arrest of a Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah C. Dugan for allegedly allowing a Mexican immigrant charged with domestic violence to temporarily avoid arrest by federal agents. “The allegations against Judge Dugan and Judge Cano are serious: no one, least of all a judge, should obstruct law enforcement operations,” U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement. “Doing so imperils the safety of our law enforcement officers and undermines the rule of law. The Department of Justice will continue to follow the facts — no one is above the law.” In the New Mexico case, immigration authorities arrested Ortega-Lopez in December 2023 in Texas for unlawfully entering the U.S., and released him in April 2024 because of overcrowding at the detention center where he was being held, according to court records. An anonymous source in January tipped off the Homeland Security Investigations office in Las Cruces that Ortega-Lopez and two others were living in an apartment behind the Canos’ home, an HSI special agent wrote in an application for a search warrant. The Judicial Standards Commission on March 5 petitioned the Supreme Court to suspend Cano for allegedly committing misconduct by allowing three members of the gang to live on his property in Las Cruces and to have access to firearms. In a response, Jose Cano wrote to the Supreme Court justices that Ortega-Lopez told Nancy Cano that the trio “all had their legal papers to remain in the U.S. pending their Asylum Court hearings, which were already scheduled,” and that he had verified their court dates. Jose Cano resigned as a magistrate judge on March 21, according to court records. The New Mexico Supreme Court on April 22 barred Cano from holding any judicial office or exercising any judicial authority.  Both Canos are scheduled for preliminary and detention hearings Tuesday morning in federal court in Las Cruces. GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE

[Category: Criminal Justice, Gov & Politics, Immigration, immigration, public corruption]

— The Office of the Child Advocate could help CYFD earn back our trust

 

at 4/28/25 2:06pm

The State of New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department, 1031 Lamberton Place NE in Albuquerque, photographed on Friday December 18, 2015. (Dean Hanson/Albuquerque Journal)As an advocate for children in foster care and a former foster parent myself, I was heartened to see lawmakers prioritize reforms to the state’s Children, Youth, and Families Department (CYFD) during the recent legislative session, and grateful to see several critical reforms signed into law. These new laws will help bring much needed transparency, accountability, and oversight to the troubled agency, so it can better serve New Mexico’s kids and their families.  But I am deeply troubled that Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham line-item vetoed crucial funding for one of these important reforms: the Office of the Child Advocate, a new, independent office that will oversee child well-being in the state. Earlier this year, the governor pleasantly surprised me by acknowledging the need for significant change at CYFD in her State of the State speech. For several years now, her administration has resisted calls from advocates like me, members of the public, and lawmakers for greater oversight of the agency. I felt like maybe our calls were finally being heard.  Since then, however, her words and actions tell a different story. While the governor signed the legislation creating this office, House Bill 5, she wrote a poison pen message as she did so, accusing those who championed the bill of pursuing a “vendetta” against her and attempting to “intimidate” CYFD staff. She even told a reporter that she was concerned the bill’s supporters were using children and families “as some sort of political effort to harm or discredit another elected official.”  The harms we should be worried about are not political. Too many children have already paid the price for CYFD’s mistakes and failures. Too many kids have been harmed or even killed on CYFD’s watch. Those of us who are pushing for change are doing it for one reason only: to better protect our kids.  While I know that most of the agency’s frontline staff are hardworking individuals who are dedicating their careers to helping kids, the agency has long been plagued by a culture of secrecy and defensiveness. That culture has undermined CYFD’s ability to accomplish its mission and resulted in a loss of public trust that makes it harder to hire new caseworkers and recruit foster families.  The Office of the Child Advocate will help restore that trust by giving kids a stronger voice within the system that is supposed to keep them safe. The Child Advocate will investigate and resolve complaints from children and families involved with CYFD and report on the agency’s progress and challenges to help us understand what else needs to change.  Legislators allocated $1 million dollars in this year’s $10.8 billion dollar state budget to help the Office of the Child Advocate get off the ground. That’s a small price to pay to improve the well-being of the most vulnerable children in our state and help CYFD begin to earn back our trust.  Thankfully, New Mexico’s Attorney General has indicated that the state’s Department of Justice can help make up for the vetoed funding. By vetoing this funding and taking efforts to reform CYFD personally, the governor has only proven the necessity of outside oversight.

[Category: Commentary, AG Raul Torrez, children, CYFD, foster children, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, maralyn Beck, Youth and Families Department]

— The Office of the Child Advocate Could Help CYFD Earn Back Our Trust

 

at 4/28/25 2:06pm

The State of New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department, 1031 Lamberton Place NE in Albuquerque, photographed on Friday December 18, 2015. (Dean Hanson/Albuquerque Journal)As an advocate for children in foster care and a former foster parent myself, I was heartened to see lawmakers prioritize reforms to the state’s Children, Youth, and Families Department (CYFD) during the recent legislative session, and grateful to see several critical reforms signed into law. These new laws will help bring much needed transparency, accountability, and oversight to the troubled agency, so it can better serve New Mexico’s kids and their families.  But I am deeply troubled that Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham line-item vetoed crucial funding for one of these important reforms: the Office of the Child Advocate, a new, independent office that will oversee child well-being in the state. Earlier this year, the governor pleasantly surprised me by acknowledging the need for significant change at CYFD in her State of the State speech. For several years now, her administration has resisted calls from advocates like me, members of the public, and lawmakers for greater oversight of the agency. I felt like maybe our calls were finally being heard.  Since then, however, her words and actions tell a different story. While the governor signed the legislation creating this office, House Bill 5, she wrote a poison pen message as she did so, accusing those who championed the bill of pursuing a “vendetta” against her and attempting to “intimidate” CYFD staff. She even told a reporter that she was concerned the bill’s supporters were using children and families “as some sort of political effort to harm or discredit another elected official.”  The harms we should be worried about are not political. Too many children have already paid the price for CYFD’s mistakes and failures. Too many kids have been harmed or even killed on CYFD’s watch. Those of us who are pushing for change are doing it for one reason only: to better protect our kids.  While I know that most of the agency’s frontline staff are hardworking individuals who are dedicating their careers to helping kids, the agency has long been plagued by a culture of secrecy and defensiveness. That culture has undermined CYFD’s ability to accomplish its mission and resulted in a loss of public trust that makes it harder to hire new caseworkers and recruit foster families.  The Office of the Child Advocate will help restore that trust by giving kids a stronger voice within the system that is supposed to keep them safe. The Child Advocate will investigate and resolve complaints from children and families involved with CYFD and report on the agency’s progress and challenges to help us understand what else needs to change.  Legislators allocated $1 million dollars in this year’s $10.8 billion dollar state budget to help the Office of the Child Advocate get off the ground. That’s a small price to pay to improve the well-being of the most vulnerable children in our state and help CYFD begin to earn back our trust.  Thankfully, New Mexico’s Attorney General has indicated that the state’s Department of Justice can help make up for the vetoed funding. By vetoing this funding and taking efforts to reform CYFD personally, the governor has only proven the necessity of outside oversight.

[Category: Commentary, AG Raul Torrez, children, CYFD, foster children, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, maralyn Beck, Youth and Families Department]

— Trump border czar defends removal of U.S. citizen children

 

at 4/28/25 12:35pm

White House Border Czar Tom Homan talks with reporters on the driveway outside the White House West Wing on March 17, 2025. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)WASHINGTON — White House border czar Tom Homan on Monday blamed the parents of U.S. citizen children the Trump administration sent to Honduras over the weekend. At a Monday morning press conference, Homan defended the government’s actions to remove three young children from two different families alongside their mothers who were in the country without legal authorization but participated in a program that allows otherwise law-abiding migrants to stay in their communities. “If you enter this country illegally, it’s a crime,” Homan said. “Knowing you’re in this country illegally, you put yourself in that position. You put your family in that position.” The children, all under the age of 10, were placed on deportation flights to Honduras on Friday after their mothers checked in with a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in New Orleans as part of the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program, which allows immigrants to stay in their communities while undergoing immigration court proceedings. An attorney for one of the children, Gracie Willis at the National Immigration Project, said the 4-year-old U.S. citizen with Stage 4 cancer was deported without access to his medication. Homan has argued the mothers requested to be deported with their children, but attorneys for the families argue they were “denied access to legal counsel, and swiftly deported without due process.” Due process concerns U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty, whom Trump appointed to a seat on the Louisiana federal bench in 2018, expressed concern that a 2-year-old U.S. citizen had been deported, despite her father’s wishes she remain in the U.S., according to court filings. Doughty scheduled a May 16 hearing because of his “strong suspicion that the government just deported a U.S. citizen with no meaningful process.” “The government contends that this is all okay because the mother wishes that the child be deported with her,” Doughty wrote in his order. “But the court doesn’t know that.” Willis, from the National Immigration Project, raised concerns about a lack of due process and how the deportations have separated families. “What we saw from ICE over the last several days is horrifying and baffling,” she said in a statement. “These mothers had no opportunity to speak with their co-parents to make the kinds of choices that parents are entitled to make for their children, the kinds of decisions that millions of parents make every day: ‘what is best for our child?’” Homan has argued the children were deported at the request of the mothers and that the Trump administration was “keeping families together.” “What we did is remove children with their mothers who requested their children depart with them,” he said. “When a parent says, ‘I want my 2-year-old baby to go with me,’ we made that happen. They weren’t deported. We don’t deport U.S. citizens. The parents made that decision, not the United States government.” Wisconsin judge Monday’s remarks from Homan come the day before President Donald Trump will mark the 100th day of his second term. His early days in office have centered on carrying out his campaign promise of mass deportations of millions of people in the U.S. without permanent legal status. Trump will sign two executive orders on immigration late Monday: one relating to border security and another to require the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security to publicly list so-called sanctuary cities that do not coordinate with federal immigration law enforcement. Homan also stood by the Trump administration’s decision to arrest a federal judge in Wisconsin on the grounds she obstructed immigration officials from detaining a man attending his court hearing. It marked an escalation between the Trump administration and the judiciary branch, raising concerns from Democrats. The arrest of Judge Hannah Dugan was highly publicized after she was handcuffed in public and FBI Director Kash Patel bragged about the arrest on social media. Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Fox News that the Trump administration was going to continue to go after judges who “think they’re above the law.” “When you cross that line to impediment or knowingly harboring, concealing an illegal alien from ICE, you will be prosecuted, judge or not,” Homan said.   

[Category: DC Bureau, Gov & Politics, border, deportation, immigration, tom homan, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcemen, White House]

— New Mexico Democrats elevate labor leader as top party official

 

at 4/28/25 12:00pm

From left: DPNM Chair Sara Attleson, Vice Chair Cam Crawford, Secretary Brenda Hoskie, and Treasurer Julie Rochman. (Courtesy photo)Democratic Party of New Mexico insiders this month chose a labor official to lead the party for the next two years. Sara Attleson is the new chair of the Democratic Party of New Mexico, according to voting results announced on Sunday. Attleson, of Albuquerque, chairs the party’s Labor Caucus, as well as the Albuquerque Teachers Federation’s Committee on Political Education. She defeated Marisol Enriquez, Letitia Montoya and Joseph Weathers to lead the party. Former Chair Jessica Velasquez did not seek reelection. Attleson said in a statement she wants to work with county-level Democratic parties “to make sure we have a presence in every community.” “Democrats across the country have our work cut out for us,” she said in a statement. “But here in New Mexico, we have the energy to make sure that MAGA Republicans and Donald Trump are never able to get a foothold here.” DPNM announced the results at the spring meeting of its governing body, the State Central Committee, at the Albuquerque Little Theater following voting by 466 SCC members via online absentee ballot from April 19-26. The new party officers’ terms end in 2027. Party members elected Cameron Crawford as vice chair. Crawford, of Santa Fe, defeated incumbent Manny Crespin and Augustine Montoya to win the seat. “In an era of unprecedented political turmoil, I will go to counties red and blue to rebuild community by showing up for everyone, regardless of who they vote for,” Crawford said in a statement. “Politics is about making people’s lives better, and I’m more than prepared to take that message far and wide.” The party elected Brenda Hoskie as its treasurer. Hoskie, from Springstead, is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation and chair of the McKinley County Democrats. She defeated Daniel Alfredo Garcia and Barbara Jordan to become secretary. Members elected Julie Rochman as Secretary. Rochman, of Albuquerque, defeated Joseph Ortiz to become treasurer. The Republican Party of New Mexico elected its party officers in December. GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE

[Category: Gov & Politics, Democratic Party of New Mexico, DPNM, labor, party politics]

— Biden wanted Medicaid to pay for weight-loss drugs. Trump just said it doesn’t have to.

 

at 4/28/25 11:31am

In this photo illustration, the injectable weight-loss medication Wegovy is available at New City Halstead Pharmacy on April 24, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. More than 3 million people with Medicare could be eligible for the difficult-to-find and expensive weight-loss drug under new guidance which can cover the medication for patients who are obese or those who have a history of heart disease and are at risk of a heart attack or stroke. (Photo Illustration by Scott Olson/Getty Images)The Trump administration this month scrapped a Biden-era proposal that would have required state Medicaid programs and allowed federal Medicare to pay for some GLP-1s for obesity treatment. Instead, state Medicaid programs will retain the choice of whether to cover the high-priced medications for their residents. The drugs, which have historically been prescribed to diabetic patients, also help patients lose weight and have grown in popularity among doctors and patients. But they are generally too expensive for most people to afford without insurance. While doctors and patient advocates say these drugs are critical to helping patients struggling with obesity and can save money in the long run by reducing comorbidities such as heart disease, others say the medications are just too expensive for most states to afford. More than a dozen state Medicaid programs have opted to cover GLP-1s for obesity treatment, and the proposed Biden rule would have asked all states to figure out how to pay for them. But now, advocates fear these drugs may continue to be out of reach for many. “It’s unfortunate that they’re excluding a whole class of medications that seem to have a tremendous number of health benefits to patients,” Dr. Nicholas Pennings, chair of family medicine at Campbell University in Buies Creek, North Carolina, said in an interview. I think that’s just part of the inherent bias towards the treatment of people with obesity. – Dr. Nicholas Pennings, chair of family medicine at Campbell University GLP-1s, which stand for glucagon-like peptide-1, are a class of drugs that balance blood sugar levels. They’ve long been prescribed to patients with Type 2 diabetes. But since the drugs also curb hunger signals, doctors may prescribe these drugs — including popular brands Wegovy and Ozempic — to help patients lose weight. Medicaid is a joint federal-state funded program that mostly serves people with lower incomes under the age of 65 or who have a disability. The federal Medicare program focuses primarily on people above the age of 65, no matter their income. How and whether to cover expensive treatments and drugs can be a significant deliberation for state Medicaid directors. In North Carolina, where 70% of people struggle with being overweight or obese, officials opted to begin covering the drugs for weight loss last year. That coverage has been a game changer, said Pennings, who continues to treat Medicaid patients. “They are expensive, but there’s a lot of other medications that are expensive too. Why is it that obesity medications and diabetes medications are being selected out?” Pennings said. “I think that’s just part of the inherent bias towards the treatment of people with obesity, feeling like it’s cheating or not necessary.” The list price for Wegovy is around $1,300 per month, and for Ozempic, around $1,000. Even so, the skyrocketing popularity of these drugs has prompted at least 14 state Medicaid departments to begin covering these drugs to treat obesity in the past decade. In addition to North Carolina, those states include California, Delaware, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Virginia and Wisconsin. An annual survey of Medicaid directors from health policy research group KFF recently found that half of the 47 responding states not already covering the drugs were considering doing so. As demand for weight-loss drugs rises, states grapple with Medicaid coverage In January, the National Association of Medicaid Directors told the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services that state Medicaid departments had “significant concerns over the fiscal impacts” of the Biden proposal to require coverage of GLP-1s, and “strongly recommend that CMS maintain the current state option to cover or not cover anti-obesity medications.” But others say covering the drugs will yield long-term savings. John Cawley, a professor of economics and public policy at Cornell University who has studied the economic impacts of obesity, has found that obesity essentially doubles a person’s annual health care costs due to comorbidities such as heart disease, fatty liver disease and kidney disease. He’s found that weight loss among those with extreme obesity, with a BMI of 40 or higher, can yield substantial reductions in medical care costs. Cawley added that state Medicaid programs “have a lot of flexibility” in ensuring costs don’t get out of control, by, for example, covering a newly available generic version of GLP-1s, requiring prior authorization, and asking patients to try behavioral programs before getting a prescription. North Carolina’s Medicaid department began covering GLP-1s for obesity in August. The state has been able to afford GLP-1 coverage by negotiating rebates, or discounts, with drug manufacturers, and by getting the federal government to cover some costs. Department leaders think lowering obesity will save the state money in the long run, said Jay Ludlam, deputy secretary for North Carolina Medicaid. He said that one of the benefits of Medicaid is that “we get to choose, as a state, where we want to make kind of those extra investments or not.” He added that covering the medications could be potentially financially feasible for other states. “Each program is different and has its own pressures. It would be welcome to be able to come together with other states to be able to negotiate broader deals,” Ludlam said. “If North Carolina is able to get a good deal, I don’t know why other states wouldn’t be able to participate in that.” States consider high costs, possible savings of covering weight-loss drugs for their workers In 2023, Connecticut enacted a law requiring Medicaid to cover obesity treatment services. The program began covering GLP-1s for weight loss, but costs were significant enough that the state told providers this year that it is now focusing on other obesity treatments instead. Sean Scanlon, the Connecticut comptroller, said that not covering GLP-1s is “shortsighted, bad policy.” The state health plan, which takes care of teachers and other state employees, has been covering the drugs for weight loss since 2023. The plan controls costs by only prescribing GLP-1s after patients go through some online weight-loss counseling, said Scanlon. “The most fiscally conservative thing we can do is give people tools that will save the taxpayers money in the long run,” he said in an interview. “And GLP-1 drugs are one of the best tools that we have to ensure that the taxpayers are not going to pay more money for the health care of hundreds of millions of people in the long run.” It’s unclear whether the federal government will reverse course. In the past, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has recommended “three good meals a day” and behavioral changes rather than weight-loss medication. But this month, Kennedy told CBS News he’s considering a regulatory framework to have Medicare and Medicaid cover these “extraordinary drugs” in the future, once their cost goes down. “Ideally, over the long-term, we’d like to see those drugs available for people after they try other interventions,” Kennedy said. Stateline reporter Shalina Chatlani can be reached at schatlani@stateline.org.   Stateline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions: info@stateline.org.

[Category: Uncategorized]

— Two small NM fires erupt Sunday, including one in Grants neighborhood that burned 14 structures

 

at 4/28/25 11:15am

Members of the Mimbres wildland firefighting team dig fire line during a wildfire in 2024. (Photo Courtesy NM Forestry)Two small wildfires prompted evacuations and burned a few structures in the Grants and Socorro areas Sunday, though a state Forestry spokesperson said Monday that crews were making progress.  Witnesses spotted the Otero Fire in the bosque east of Socorro and the Alamo Fire in a neighborhood in Grants on Sunday evening. The Grants Fire is fully contained at between 3 and 5 acres, said Forestry spokesperson George Ducker. Despite progress overnight in Socorro, where crews built a fire line across the northern edge of the 360-acre fire, the Otero Fire is 0% contained, Ducker said.  The causes of both fires remains under investigation, Ducker said, though they occurred amid high winds and ongoing drought across the state. The National Interagency Fire Center earlier this month warned that most of the state would experience above-normal wildfire risk, and that the risk would spread to the western two-thirds of the state as May approaches. A new forecast is expected in the next few days.  High winds around 7 p.m. pushed the Alamo Fire on the east side Grants into structures, burning eight structures and six outbuildings and prompting evacuations. Residents are being allowed to return this morning, Ducker said, and crews will focus on watching for hotspots and dealing with the burned structures, now that the fire is fully contained.  In the Socorro-area fire, crews detected active wildfire burning on the south end of the perimeter. They plan today to hold and increase containment lines. No structures are threatened in that fire, and no evacuation orders are in effect.  !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}}))}();

[Category: Environment & Climate Change, wildfire]

— Only one NM college president signs letter opposing ‘unprecedented government overreach’

 

at 4/28/25 11:10am

Southwestern College President Thom Chesney at the graduate-level school's Santa Fe Southside campus. (Danielle Prokop / Source NM)Hundreds of leaders at colleges and universities from across the United States recently signed  an open letter to the Trump Administration, rebuking “the unprecedented government overreach and political interference now endangering American higher education.” Only one New Mexico higher-education leader signed the letter — from a small college in Santa Fe. In the first 100 days, the Trump administration has frozen billions of dollars in research grants and threatened further cuts if universities fail to comply with policies to reshape admissions, curriculum and speech on campus. Broadly, the Trump and Republicans have alleged higher education indoctrinates students with left-wing ideologies, and are using federal funds as leverage to require universities to change campus policies. Last week, Harvard University sued the Trump administration over its freezing of $2.2 billion in grants after the school refused to comply with federal demands to limit activism on campus. The letter from academics, released last week by the American Association of Colleges and Universities, pushes back against the Trump Administration, penning a defense of higher education. “We are open to constructive reform and do not oppose legitimate government oversight,” the letter states. “However, we must oppose undue government intrusion in the lives of those who learn, live, and work on our campuses. We will always seek effective and fair financial practices, but we must reject the coercive use of public research funding.” As of Monday morning, the letter had amassed 523 signatures from colleges, universities and scholarly societies. Leaders from University of New Mexico and New Mexico State University, the state’s largest schools, did not sign on.When reached for comment, Cinnamon Blair, a spokesperson for UNM wrote: “What I can share is that UNM’s participation in any statements is an internal administrative decision, and will be reflected in the public record.” New Mexico State University spokesperson Amanda Bradford confirmed the administration had not signed the letter, stating: “The university has no further comments on this topic at this time.” As of press time, Thom Chesney, president of Southwestern College, a private graduate-level school tucked away on Santa Fe’s Southside, remains the only New Mexico school leader on the list. Southwestern College offers a variety of graduate-level programs and certificates, including: master’s degrees in counseling, art therapy and consciousness in action; as well as a Ph.D in visionary practice and regenerative leadership. In an interview with Source NM, Chesney said higher education is facing unprecedented threats at multiple levels. Chesney took the position at Southwestern College eight months ago, following three years as president at Clarke University in Iowa and nearly eight years as president of Brookhaven College in Texas, among other academic postings. He’s been in higher education for nearly 30 years and started his work in academia teaching English, American and British literature and the humanities. “We’ve not seen this before,” Chesney said. “The federal government stepping in and making demands about how we admit, who we admit and what we teach — that flies directly in the face of independence, of building a curriculum.” Chesney told Source NM that this was the right time for his college to speak out, and said other New Mexican institutions are trying to navigate a difficult position. “I’m going to defend my colleagues, my peers from the public and private institutions in New Mexico, who havent signed the letter,” Chesney said. “Theyre not on the sidelines, theyre not silent, in assent or giving in — we cant assume any of that. They are absolutely, I believe, thinking through where their space is, at this time, for this type of response.” Chesney said the letter he signed offers the chance to be part of “a collective, unified voice.” “It fits in with not only the mission of my institution, but also the broader need to respond in a call to action for dialogue, for decorum to come together and recognize we have a shared space, to identify the successes, the flaws — all of that, rather than react reactionarily,” he said. Chesney noted that all higher education institutions face threats, regardless of size and programs. Southwestern College’s enrollment is just over 320 students. While his institution does not receive federal research grants, some of the students rely on Title IV funds to attend college. The college also offers a counseling center at which its counseling and therapy students receive real-world experience and provide low-cost or no-cost services for 500 Santa Fe residents. “If someone comes in and says ‘you can’t do that anymore,’ that’s a threat,” he said. “That threatens the wellness of Santa Fe’s Southside, Santa Fe in general and ultimately New Mexico, in my mind.” Not only did Chesney sign the letter, he hopes his participation in a national dialogue creates an opportunity for students to become more engaged with faculty and administrators in addressing the future of higher education. And he has a message for prospective students who are considering further training or schooling: “Don’t become cynical.” “No one should give up on that dream or that aspiration to do the kind of learning that leads them into opportunities to serve and create and have jobs that are for the greater, common good,” Chesney said. GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE

[Category: Education, higher education, New Mexico State University, Southwestern College, university of new mexico]

— An infamous group of Russian-linked hackers appears to have launched a crippling cyberattack on WNMU

 

at 4/27/25 7:19am

Western New Mexico University’s main campus in Silver City. Courtesy of Western New Mexico University Posted inFeatured For nearly two weeks, Western New Mexico University’s website and digital systems have been held hostage by what officials in internal emails have called the efforts of a “foreign hacking group.” The university has not publicly addressed the severity of the attack, but documentation obtained by Searchlight New Mexico indicates that an infamous Russian-speaking hacking group is behind the attack and claims to have access to employee payroll data, Social Security numbers and driver’s licenses. “If you refuse to communicate with us and we do not come to an agreement, your data will be reviewed and published on our blog,” the ransomware on WNMU employee computers says. “Data includes: Employees personal data, CVs, DL, SSN. Complete network map including credentials for local and remote services. Financial information including clients data, bills, budgets, annual reports.” In an image of an employee’s computer shared with Searchlight, a note that threatens to leak the employee’s Social Security number, driver’s license and the university’s “complete network map” is signed by Qilin, a hacking group that the federal government has accused of running a “ransomware-as-a-service” operation. Qilin has earned a cutthroat reputation for being willing to go after anyone. Last year, it was accused of being involved in a cyberattack that forced a hospital system to cancel more than 1,000 appointments and operations. Earlier this year, it made headlines for its role in stealing the Social Security numbers and driver’s licenses of journalists who work for newspapers owned by Lee Enterprises. Since April 13, the WNMU website has been inaccessible to the public. Faculty members told Searchlight that they and their students can use digital platforms like Canvas, which are hosted by a third party, but they’re unable to use classroom tools that connect to the internet, like printers or projectors. In an image shared with Searchlight, one employee’s laptop screen displayed the same threatening ransomware message whenever they attempted to open a file on their work computer. The message was signed “Qilin,” and its contents bear the hallmark signs of ransomware, in which hackers hold sensitive data hostage until they receive a ransom payment. Even if they do receive a payment, groups like these may leak the sensitive information anyway. A Western New Mexico employee’s laptop displayed several threatening ransomware messages, apparently signed by the foreign hacking group known as Qilin. “We have downloaded compromising and sensitive data from your system/network. Our group cooperates with the mass media. If you refuse to communicate with us and we do not come to an agreement, your data will be reviewed and published on our blog,” the message says. “Data includes: Employees personal data, CVs, DL, SSN. Complete network map including credentials for local and remote services. Financial information including clients data, bills, budgets, annual reports.” The note instructs recipients to download a Tor browser — commonly used to access the dark web — and visit a specific site to begin negotiations with the hackers. “You need cipher key/our decrypt software to restore your files … the police or authorities will not be able to help you get the cipher key. We encourage you to consider your decisions.” Payday delayed On April 25 — a Friday, payday at WNMU — hourly and student employees said they had not yet received their direct deposits. In an email to employees reviewed by Searchlight, the university said the problem “stemmed from an unexpected complication during the file upload process to the bank” and said some employees might experience further delays in receiving the payments. “If this delay results in any overdraft fees, the university will reimburse those charges,” the email said. The cyberattack comes at an inopportune time for university leaders, who are working to rebuild trust with the faculty senate, student body, state government and the surrounding Silver City community. Since December, when former university president Joseph Shepard resigned from his post and the governor demanded the resignations of the sitting regents, the campus has been without a permanent leader. New regents have only been on the job since late March, and now find themselves leading a university in disarray. Threats like these have become common enough in local government that in 2022 the U.S. Department of Homeland Security launched the “State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program,” the first of its kind, to help upgrade and protect IT networks across the country. It awarded nearly $280 million in grant funding for fiscal year 2024 — nearly $4 million of which went to New Mexico — and anticipated awarding $1 billion over four years. In an email to executive managers on April 14 — one day after the attack — Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Jack Crocker said WNMU “experienced a cyberattack from a foreign hacking group” and said the university had the “ongoing collective support and assistance” of the New Mexico Higher Education Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and “other university cyber experts to help us combat the attack.” In an email to Searchlight, Higher Education Department spokesperson Auriella Ortiz said the agency was working closely with the state Department of Information Technology to “evaluate” the issue. “WNMU is undertaking a formal investigation to identify the scope of the incident and to facilitate necessary remediation efforts,” she wrote. “Our primary objective as state agencies is to support the university in restoring and continuing normal business operations following this incident.” Whether that collective firepower will be enough to combat the hacking group remains to be seen. Qilin has developed a reputation for wreaking havoc wherever it goes. Last year, it was accused of being involved with an attack on a healthcare provider in London that forced hospitals to immediately halt operations. Qilin has been operational since 2022 and operates “ransomware as a service,” according to a 2024 report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This allows independent hackers to use its digital tools in exchange for a 15 to 20 percent share of the ransom payments. The 2024 report says that the group’s typical demand for ransom is $50,000 to $800,000. “Actors practice double extortion and operate a data leak site where victims are posted. Victims are directed to communicate with the attackers via dark web portals or encrypted messaging services, ensuring the attackers’ anonymity and complicating law enforcement efforts to track interactions,” the HHS report says. “Payments are demanded in cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin or Monero. However, even after payment, there is no guarantee that victims will receive the decryption tools required to recover their data.” System outage or cyberattack? Meanwhile, the severity of the situation hasn’t come through in the school’s public messaging (“While select systems remain offline,” a recent WNMU Facebook post said, “key academic and communications platforms continue to be accessible.”) For nearly two weeks, WNMU’s website has been down and employees have had varying degrees of access to their emails. Everything on the university website — minutes and agendas for Board of Regents meetings, campus announcements and calendars of events — has been blocked from public view, and students have had to use alternative login methods to access online homework, lectures and exams. In public social media posts and emails to students, the university has not blamed a cyberattack or other nefarious activity for leading to the outages. Instead it has simply said it is “working through technical issues.” Internal communications, however, show that the situation is more serious than the university’s public depictions. The university has also enlisted the help of private cybersecurity companies. A number of Wi-Fi hotspots have been installed on campus and students have received instructions on alternative ways to access Canvas, an online coursework program used by universities around the nation. “In the meantime, the plan is to keep campus open,” Crocker wrote in his email to managers. “Face-to-face classes will meet and alternative access to online/hybrid classes is being created. However, university internet, email, phones, and connections outside WNMU are inoperable at this time and must remain so until the issues are resolved. Scheduled events, such as the scholarship luncheon, softball games, Cultural Affairs lectures will continue.” While faculty and hourly employees have received different communications from the top, students have seemingly been left in the dark as to the serious nature of the system outage. In an email to students last week, the university made no mention of a cyberattack. Instead, it told students that WNMU “is currently addressing technical issues affecting access to several key web-based services.” It also told students that “protecting your personal data — including your student status — is a top priority.” In a statement Friday, university spokesperson Mario Sanchez said “impacted individuals” would be notified if their personal information was involved in the attack. “The university’s investigation into this incident is ongoing. If the investigation determines that personal information was involved, impacted individuals will be notified in accordance with applicable law. We understand there was an issue with payroll processing for the current pay period, but our bank has let us know that the issue has been corrected and payroll should be posted today.” This article first appeared on Searchlight New Mexico and is republished here under a Creative Commons License.

[Category: Gov & Politics, Uncategorized, digital systems, hacking, Russia, website, western new mexico university]

— Arrest of Wisconsin judge ‘escalation’ in Trump-judiciary conflict, Democrats warn

 

at 4/25/25 4:10pm

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee during her confirmation hearing on Jan. 15, 2025. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)WASHINGTON — A handful of Democratic U.S. senators sounded the alarm Friday after federal agents arrested a Wisconsin judge on charges she obstructed immigration officials from detaining a man in her courtroom, saying the arrest marked a new low in President Donald Trump’s treatment of the law. Some congressional Democrats framed the FBI’s Friday morning arrest of Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan as a grave threat to the U.S. system of government, saying it was part of Trump’s effort to expand his own power and undermine the judiciary, with which the administration has become increasingly noncompliant. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer decried the judge’s arrest on social media late Friday afternoon as a “dangerous escalation.” “There are no kings in America. Trump and (Attorney General Pam) Bondi can’t just decide to arrest sitting judges at will and threaten judges into submission,” wrote Schumer, a New York Democrat. Trump administration officials, including Bondi, defended the arrest as legitimate. The FBI had been investigating Dugan after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers sought to detain an immigrant without legal authority to be in the country who was in her courtroom on a misdemeanor charge. Bondi wrote on social media just after noon Eastern, “I can confirm that our @FBI agents just arrested Hannah Dugan — a county judge in Milwaukee — for allegedly helping an illegal alien avoid an arrest by @ICEgov. No one is above the law.” Democrats object Democrats in Washington who sounded their objections to the arrest Friday argued it subverted separation of powers. Sen. Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, said Trump “continues to test the limits of our Constitution — this time by arresting a sitting judge for allegedly obstructing an immigration operation at the courthouse.” In a statement, Durbin added that local courtrooms should be off limits to immigration enforcement agents. “When immigration enforcement officials interfere with our criminal justice system, it undermines public safety, prevents victims and witnesses from coming forward, and often prevents those who committed crimes from facing justice in the United States,” Durbin wrote. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, who represents Wisconsin, issued a statement shortly after news of the arrest, calling it “a gravely serious and drastic move.” “In the United States we have a system of checks and balances and separation of powers for damn good reasons,” Baldwin said. “The Trump Administration just arrested a sitting judge,” Arizona’s Ruben Gallego said in a social media post. “This is what happens in authoritarian countries. Stand up now — or lose the power to do so later. The administration must drop all charges and respect separation of powers.” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, who also sits on the Judiciary Committee, was more careful in his criticism but said Trump is “constantly challenging” separation of powers laid out in the Constitution. “I don’t know what happened in Wisconsin, but amplifying this arrest as the Attorney General and FBI Director have done looks like part of a larger intimidation campaign against judges,” the Rhode Island Democrat said in a statement. In a since-deleted post on Bluesky, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey accused Trump of “using immigrants to justify an all-out assault on our democracy and rule of law. “After openly defying a Supreme Court order, calling for judges to be impeached, and bullying and belittling judges, today his FBI director took the extreme step of ordering a sitting judge arrested,” Booker wrote, referring to the high court’s order that the Trump administration “facilitate” the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who is being held in El Salvador. Spokespeople for Booker did not respond to a late Friday inquiry about why the post was taken down. Trump officials back up arrest Administration officials boasted online following the arrest. FBI Director Kash Patel deleted a post on X in which he wrote Dugan  “intentionally misdirected federal agents away” from Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, a 30-year-old Mexican immigrant accused of misdemeanor battery. Trump posted a screenshot on his social media site from the conservative activist account “Libs of TikTok” that featured a photo of Dugan and celebrated her arrest. White House Border Czar Tom Homan said that Dugan crossed a line in her opposition to the administration’s agenda. “People can choose to support illegal immigration and not assist ICE in removing criminal illegal aliens from our communities, BUT DON’T CROSS THAT LINE,” he wrote on X. “If you actively impede our enforcement efforts or if you knowingly harbor or conceal illegal aliens from ICE you will be prosecuted. These actions are felonies. More to come…” Trump vs. courts Trump and administration officials have publicly attacked judges online, including calling for the impeachment of District Judge James Boasberg for the District of Columbia after he ordered immigration officials to halt deportation flights to El Salvador. The administration allowed the flights to reach Central America, and is now at risk of being held in criminal contempt of court as a legal fight plays out. The president’s verbal attacks on Boasberg prompted a rare rebuke from U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts in mid-March. And the administration has seemingly refused to do anything to facilitate the return of Maryland resident Abrego Garcia from a notorious El Salvador mega-prison, despite a Supreme Court order.

[Category: DC Bureau, Gov & Politics]

As of 4/30/25 5:02am. Last new 4/29/25 6:09pm.