Free Republic

The Trump administration has moved to seize more than 14 acres of land owned by the Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces to expand border‑wall infrastructure near Mount Cristo Rey in southern New Mexico, according to court documents reported by KVIA. The effort puts federal border‑security construction on a collision course with religious‑freedom protections tied to one of the region’s most significant Catholic pilgrimage sites. If approved by a judge, the action could disrupt annual pilgrimages and set a legal test for using eminent domain against religious institutions along the U.S.-Mexico border. The civil case was filed at the request of...

Social media giant Meta is threatening to shut down access to Facebook, Instagram, and even WhatsApp in New Mexico if a judge orders the company to implement sweeping child-safety mandates sought by Attorney General Raúl Torrez. The warning comes ahead of a bench trial beginning Monday in Santa Fe, where the New Mexico Department of Justice will seek court-ordered reforms to Meta’s platforms after previously securing a $375 million jury verdict against the company for violating the state’s consumer protection laws. According to newly unsealed court filings first reported by Source New Mexico and expanded upon by The Verge, Meta...

A panel of judges handed a setback this month to New Mexico auto dealers attempting to derail mandates requiring manufacturers to deliver more electric vehicles to the state. The ruling by a three-judge panel of the New Mexico Court of Appeals means that the state remains on track to steadily increase the share of zero- and low-emission vehicles in new car showrooms between now and 2032. For vehicle year 2027, which starts this year, the state mandate requires that electric vehicles comprise 43% of new passenger cars and light-duty trucks delivered to New Mexico. That requirement is set to increase...

Albuquerque police said they arrested one of the city’s top auto theft suspects this week. APD officers arrested Gilbert Serrano after air support tracked him to El Modelo restaurant. After Serrano picked up his food, officers pulled him over and put him in handcuffs. Police named Serrano as one of the top 25 auto theft offenders on their list for April.

A proposal out of Texas to study whether some New Mexico counties could potentially join the state of Texas has triggered a surprisingly emotional response from New Mexico’s top Democratic leaders — and exposed a political nerve that Santa Fe clearly did not want touched. Earlier this week, Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows directed a Texas legislative committee to study the possibility of adding “one or more contiguous counties of New Mexico” to the state of Texas. The committee has been instructed to study the constitutional, legal, fiscal, and economic feasibility of such a move and outline what steps would...

“The public is vastly unaware that our highways are completely over run right now with truck drivers operating on Foreign Commercial Drivers Licenses and what are now called Non-Domicile CDL’s."

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),...