The politics of immigration has taken some strange forms lately, but it’s long been an issue along New Mexico’s border with Mexico.
The state’s second congressional district in the southern part of New Mexico often flips between parties, and it's likely that the contentiousness of migration policy contributes to the electoral volatility.
When Democrat Gabe Vasquez defeated incumbent Republican Yvette Herrell for Congress in 2022 it was the third election in a row in which the 2nd district post flipped from one major party to the other.
As a U.S.-born son of immigrants, Vasquez has relatives on both sides of the border, and has aggressively touted border initiatives.
One piece of legislation pitched by Vasquez aimed to disrupt cartel recruitment of young Americans as migrant couriers and bolster fentanyl detection at the border.
Herrell, who lost to Vasquez by only 1,350 votes two years ago, is running for the seat for the fourth consecutive time.
She alleges that Democratic rivals undermined U.S. elections by voting against a proof of citizenship requirement for new voters, as reported by the Associated Press.
Non-citizens already are prohibited from voting in federal elections. Vasquez says the requirement would make participation harder for legitimate voters.
Meanwhile, the governors of New Mexico and Texas appear to be at odds over approaches to border safety.
KRQE reports that Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has expressed some displeasure with Texas governor Greg Abbott’s recent installation of razor wire fencing on the border between Texas and, not Mexico, but New Mexico, along the Rio Grande.
Lujan Grisham called the Abbott move a "stunt," and implied that it undermines the economic cooperation between the two states in relation to the border-straddling oil fields of the Permian Basin.
Abbott says he’s aiming to “deny illegal entry into our state and country.”
The fencing installed by Texas is near the desert around Sunland Park, New Mexico, where many deceased migrants have been found this year.
This story was adapted and augmented from an Associated Press story by Morgan Lee.
