Free Republic

Allegations that civil rights icon Cesar Chavez raped and sexually abused underage girls landed like a bombshell Wednesday in New Mexico, where he has enjoyed reverential status for decades. Adding to the heartbreak was a statement released Wednesday by New Mexico native Dolores Huerta revealing that she too experienced coerced and forced sexual encounters with Chavez that resulted in pregnancies in the 1960s. Huerta, 95, who was born in Colfax County and went on to co-found the National Farm Workers Association with Chavez, revealed that her two children with Chavez were "raised by other families that could give them stable...

ALAMOGORDO, N.M. (AP) — A shooting at a U.S. Air Force base in New Mexico on Tuesday left one person dead and another wounded, according to military officials. The Holloman Air Force Base near Alamogordo, in southern New Mexico, was put on lockdown at about 5:30 p.m. because of reports of an active shooter near the base convenience store, according to a statement released by the 49th Wing. The person wounded has been taken for medical treatment, according to the statement. Security officials confirmed the base is safe and the lockdown was lifted. “Emergency personnel are responding to the situation...

Nearly two weeks after retired Air Force Gen. William McCasland disappeared from his home in the Albuquerque foothills, investigators have released a new photo they believe shows what he may have been wearing the day he vanished. Authorities say the 68-year-old was last seen on Feb. 27. The Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office believes McCasland left his house on the morning of Feb. 27. A repairman interacted with him around 10 a.m., and his wife left for a medical appointment at about 11:10 a.m. When she returned just after noon, he was gone. Items unaccounted for from his home include hiking...

Susan Robinson, a physician known for performing abortions later in pregnancy and who worked with providers in Albuquerque, has died. Her death is drawing renewed attention to New Mexico’s role in the national abortion industry and Albuquerque’s connection to one of the country’s most widely known facilities offering the procedure. ​Robinson’s death was confirmed in a public statement by abortion provider Shelly Sella, who worked alongside Robinson providing third-trimester abortion services in both Wichita, Kansas, and Albuquerque, New Mexico. “Dr. Susan Robinson died this morning, less than a year from her cancer diagnosis,” Sella wrote in a public post. “Susan...

Costa Rica authorities handed over a Syrian national to the United States after his arrest last year on charges of running a human smuggling operation. The man, known by the last name Maklad, led a group that moved migrants from Egypt, Venezuela, and Guatemala through New Mexico between 2022 and 2025, according to Osvaldo Ramírez, who heads Interpol operations at the Judicial Investigation Agency. Officers captured the 39-year-old in May 2025 as he crossed into the country from Nicaragua. Ramírez shared details in a video briefing, confirming the transfer went smoothly. Maklad escaped the U.S. after agents there broke up...

A recent U.S. Geological Survey assessment of previously undiscovered gas and oil in Texas' Permian Basin has found that there are enough resources there to fuel the entire nation for months. AI Bot Flips Wall Street on Its Head: Turns $1K into $50K in Record 30 Days A new AI trading robot reportedly generated a return of $14,158 from a $3,200 investment over the course of a week, according to verified trading records and third-party verification by MyFxBook. FX Market Insights | Sponsored The gas and oil, measured in trillions of cubic feet and billions of barrels, are located in...

In the final stretch of New Mexico’s legislative session, two sweeping gun control measures championed by progressive Democrats have effectively collapsed — a major victory for New Mexicans’ Second Amendment rights. Senate Bill 17, the so-called “Stop Illegal Gun Trade and Extremely Dangerous Weapons Act,” was tabled indefinitely in the House Judiciary Committee, halting what critics described as one of the most aggressive gun control packages ever introduced in New Mexico. Meanwhile, Senate Bill 261, which sought to dramatically expand so-called “gun-free zones” around polling places and ballot drop boxes, failed to advance out of the House Government, Elections and...

Two of the most hotly debated bills of the session — one targeting emissions policy and the other unconstitutional sweeping gun regulations — triggered marathon hearings, sharp partisan divides, and dueling victory statements this week at the Roundhouse.Clear Horizons Act Goes Down in the Senate On Wednesday, the Senate rejected Senate Bill 18, the so-called “Clear Horizons Act,” on a 19–23 vote, with seven Democrats joining all Republicans in opposition. The measure, sponsored by Senate President Pro Tempore Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque, would have placed into state statute emissions-reduction benchmarks first advanced under Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s administration. According to reporting...

New Mexico is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been in my life. For years, I hoped to retire to either there or Arizona and just soak up the beauty. I didn't even realize how much I'd love the area until I visited. But now, I wouldn't live there for all the money in the world. After all, who would want to live in a state that elected a governor who thought she could just suspend the Second Amendment in a city, basically? That was smacked down, thankfully, but that doesn't mean lawmakers there aren't still engaging in...

A Las Cruces woman is behind bars after police say she gave birth to a baby girl inside a portable toilet and left the newborn in the holding tank, resulting in the child’s death. According to authorities, 38-year-old Sonia Jimenez was arrested following an investigation that began late Saturday night. Around 10:30 p.m., staff at Memorial Medical Center contacted law enforcement after Jimenez arrived at the hospital appearing to have recently delivered a baby. Medical personnel quickly realized the newborn was not with her and alerted police. Officers began questioning those connected to Jimenez, including her boyfriend, who told investigators...

WASHINGTON — The sudden and surprising airspace closure over El Paso, Texas, on Wednesday stemmed from the Pentagon's plans to test a laser for use in shooting down drones used by Mexican drug cartels, according to three people familiar with the situation who were granted anonymity to share sensitive details. That caused friction with the Federal Aviation Administration, which wanted to ensure commercial air safety and the two agencies sought to coordinate, according to two of the people. Despite a meeting scheduled later this month to discuss the issue, the Pentagon wanted to go ahead and test the laser, prompting...

After a sometimes heated six-hour debate and a few failed amendments, the New Mexico Senate passed a gun bill that aims to stop firearms from getting into the wrong hands and ban the sale of certain types of weapons. With a 21-17 vote, Senate Bill 17 now heads to the House for approval. Sens. Joseph Cervantes of Las Cruces, Benny Shendo Jr. of Jemez Pueblo and Angel Charley of Acoma Pueblo were the lone "no" votes among Democratic lawmakers. All Republican senators voted in opposition. Senate Bill 17 would require licensed gun dealers to keep inventory records and implement security...

A sweeping gun control proposal that critics say represents one of the most extreme assaults on the Second Amendment in New Mexico history is now headed to the Senate floor. Senate Bill 17, which would ban the sale of a broad range of semi-automatic firearms and impose heavy new mandates on federally licensed gun dealers, advanced out of the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday night on a 6–3 party-line vote. An effort to strip out the bill’s semi-automatic firearm and standard-capacity magazine bans failed on a 4–5 vote, clearing the way for the legislation to move forward in largely intact form....

In a move critics are calling reckless, ideologically driven, and economically devastating, New Mexico Democrats have fast-tracked House Bill 9, the so-called “Immigrant Safety Act”—through the Legislature and toward the governor’s desk, setting the stage for what opponents warn could be mass job losses, municipal insolvency, and a collapse of rural economies in Otero County, Torrance County, and Cibola County. The bill cleared the Senate late Tuesday night on a 24–15, near party-line vote after hours of heated debate. The House had already passed the measure earlier in the session after a lengthy debate led by Rep. John Block (R-Alamogordo),...

Poland is to launch an investigation into possible links between Jeffrey Epstein and Russian authorities. Prime Minister Donald Tusk wants to determine whether the convicted paedophile was working for the country's secret services.

The U.S. Border Patrol’s Big Bend Sector unveiled a first-of-its-kind advanced vehicle barrier system today at the Sierra Blanca immigration checkpoint, a critical enforcement location along Interstate 10. The GRAB 350 is a new semi-autonomous vehicle barrier system designed by Global GRAB Technologies to enhance public safety, strengthen border security and deter dangerous attempts to evade inspection. The new system, installed at the permanent immigration checkpoint in Hudspeth County approximately 90 miles east of El Paso, is the first of its kind deployed at any of the 45 permanent U.S. Border Patrol checkpoints nationwide. It is intended to deter and...

A woman shot in the head by a federal agent, widespread protests, families separated and American citizens unlawfully detained. State Rep. Eleanor Chavez, D-Albuquerque, described these scenes before introducing House Bill 9, which could shutter immigration detention centers in New Mexico. “Now is the time more than ever to pass the Immigrant Rights Act,” Chavez said before the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee on Thursday. Located in rural Cibola, Torrance and Otero counties, New Mexico's detention facilities have a combined detainee population of more than 1,500 people, according to recent estimates. Though the bill would not directly close all...

Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman sent a letter Wednesday to a top Immigration and Customs Enforcement official in Albuquerque warning that some practices of federal agents in other states could be prosecuted as a felony offense under New Mexico law. ICE officials who detain someone without a warrant signed by a judge can be charged under New Mexico's felony false imprisonment law, which contains no exceptions for law enforcement officers, Bregman wrote. "I write to express my deep concern about ICE procedures and operations across the country," he said in the letter sent to William Shaw, assistant field office...

Hundreds of students staged a walkout at several schools across Albuquerque on Tuesday in protest of immigration enforcement under President Donald Trump. The nationwide "Free America Walkout" saw students at six Albuquerque Public Schools campuses leave their classes, according to a statement from the district. The students walked out at 2 p.m. in protest of recent actions taken by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. Students at Manzano, Highland, Sandia, Albuquerque High, Del Norte and Eldorado high schools joined in the walkout. In an official statement, APS said the district “does not sponsor or encourage walkouts, but we understand...

The U.S. federal government is about to begin construction of a new border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border in the Mount Cristo Rey area of ​​Sunland Park, New Mexico. According to the El Paso Sector Border Patrol and the Ciudad Juárez Civil Protection Department, controlled detonations are expected to begin today (20 Jan) to prepare the ground and lay the foundation for this new border wall... ...last summer that approximately 1.3 kilometers of new border barrier were approved for the Sunland Park area, south of the mountain. The goal of this new wall in that area is to deter illegal...