Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Unbelievably, I think I’ve learned something new about Donald Trump during his most recent ascent to the throne.
One is obvious, I suppose: He’s not always a liar. He does, or attempts to do, what he promises his supporters he’ll do. He just lies to justify it.
Case in point: He says “illegal” immigrants are fueling violent crimes in the U.S., which is altogether untrue. Violent crime in America is nearly always homemade. Trump lies when he talks about the sins of undocumented migrants in the U.S., but he’s not lying when he talks a mass deportation of historic proportions.
Through a slew of executive orders, Trump has sent a chill through the air for countless Americans and wannabe U.S. citizens. Especially in places like New Mexico, where family ties often lie on both sides of the U.S.-Mexican border, there’s anxiety over the raids, deportations and profiling to come.
In response, New Mexico won’t be supporting federal authorities in their efforts to round up, detain and deport the “illegals.” Instead, we’ve got the ACLU acting as a legal watchdog over illegal searches and detainments, and our attorney general is offering guidance to churches, hospitals, schools and local law enforcement about their rights when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) comes pounding on their doors.
Native Americans are worried as well; Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren has recommended his people carry valid IDs, including their birth certificates, with them, in case they are questioned or detained.
Of course, New Mexicans know there’s a crisis at the border, but we see it as a humanitarian crisis more than an “invasion.” Trump, on the other hand, stokes fear and dehumanizes the desperate migrants out there to justify his “greatest mass deportation in American history.”
The second thing I came to realize recently came through Trump’s reaction to the Los Angeles wildfires. After years of arguing with thick-headed climate change deniers, I’ve come to wonder what they would say when it becomes crystal clear that the earth’s atmosphere is heating up and we only have so much time to address it before it’s too late.
Well, after the 10 warmest years on recorded history fell between 2014 and 2023, coupled with massive climate-related disasters like the LA fires and a steady stream of extreme weather events around the world, it’s now obvious that the scientists have been right all along. They’ve been warning us for a half-century that climate change is real, and here we are, suffering the consequences of our inactions.
Of course, we all know Trump is the denier in-chief, and he just showed us his response. He’s politicizing the issue. Not only has he spread misinformation about the cause of the LA fires, he’s turning federal aid into a bargaining chip. If you want aid, he says to California, reform your election laws and we’ll talk.
And incredibly, his supporters are OK with that.
Meanwhile, New Mexico is capping off wells to reduce the air pollution coming out of the Permian Basin. We’re turning to alternative fuels like hydrogen in the northern reaches of our state, while sprouting up solar and wind farms across our plains and mesas. New Mexico may be a leading producer of oil and gas, but Trump’s “drill, baby, drill” mantra rings hollow in this progressive, diversifying state.
Tom McDonald is editor of the New Mexico Community News Exchange. Contact him at: