U.S. Representative Melanie Stanbury (D-N.M.) delivers an address to a joint session of the House and Senate, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. (Photo by Eddie Moore / Albuquerque Journal)
Two of New Mexico’s representatives in Congress told New Mexico lawmakers on Thursday afternoon they will act as a bulwark against President Donald Trump.
Addressing a joint session of the state House and Senate, U.S. Reps. Melanie Stansbury and Gabe Vasquez, both Democrats from districts 1 and 2, respectively, tried to assuage fear and uncertainty among New Mexicans amid Trump’s freeze of funding on grant and loan programs and immigration enforcement raids here and across the country.
“For those of you who are feeling scared and uncertain about the future of this country, know that we will fight to protect our communities, and especially those who are most vulnerable,” Stansbury said.
Vasquez called the funding freeze “a huge threat.”
“I want to ensure that everybody in here that serves veterans — that serves any type of community service — that our entire New Mexico delegation is going to stand strong in the fight against this administration to freeze any federal funds that are coming to our communities. You can count on that,” he said.
Stansbury represented part of Albuquerque in the state House of Representatives from 2019 to 2021.
“We will work to ensure that New Mexico remains a safe haven for everyone, across all of our communities,” Stansbury said. “We will defend the rights, freedoms and democracy of all New Mexicans, and this is your home.”
Vasquez was a member of the Las Cruces City Council from 2017 to 2021. His congressional district encompasses the entirety of New Mexico’s share of the U.S.-Mexico border.
He said Trump’s mass deportation operations and the proposed changes to birthright citizenship will harm New Mexico’s economy and violate the U.S. Constitution.
“Hardworking immigrants contribute billions — actually trillions — to our economy, from family farms in my district to rural businesses and emerging industries, and I am going to continue to find solutions, not be part of the problem in Washington, D.C.,” he said.
Instead, Vasquez said, immigration enforcement “must focus on violent criminals, not on tearing apart families or disrupting communities or local economies.”
He said he is committed to “achieving commonsense immigration reform that treats people humanely and modernizes border security.”
“We can both address crime and fight to give immigrants who contribute to our communities a fair shot at residency and citizenship,” he said. “And the truth is, unless you are Native American, you too, are an immigrant to New Mexico — just like me.”
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