WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 21: U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland welcomes guests to the opening reception for “The Land Carries Our Ancestors: Contemporary Art by Native Americans” exhibition at the National Gallery of Art on September 21, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Shannon Finney/Getty Images)
Since announcing her Democratic bid for governor earlier this month, former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland has been off and running on a statewide tour that took her most recently to Española, Los Alamos and Taos, with stops planned next week in Carlsbad, Roswell and Ruidoso. We caught up with Haaland, also a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives for the state’s 1st congressional district, and asked her a few questions about current affairs and her 2026 bid to succeed Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who is term-limited. Haaland, also a former chair of the state Democratic Party, is a member of the Pueblo of Laguna and would be the state’s first Native American woman to serve as governor. The following interview has been edited for concision and clarity.
State Rep. Nathan Small (D-Las Cruces), who chairs New Mexico’s House Appropriations and Finance Committee, said on Monday that a proposed $3 billion in reserves for the state budget would be vital if President Donald Trump cuts funding to the state. As governor, how would you approach New Mexico’s relationship with the current administration?
Well, of course, these aren’t normal times. With the president we have in office — the executive orders, DOGE, the federal firings — we are dealing with a different kind of approach from the federal government. As governor, it would be my job to ensure that every single New Mexican feels safe: safe in their employment and in what they need to live their lives here. To the extent that we can get along, of course, I would really try to ensure that I am having a good relationship. The relationship doesn’t necessarily have to be with the president, but with the folks who are managing those departments. It sounds really tricky, but in light of what we’ve seen so far with the chaos that’s coming out of the White House, it seems the state will definitely have to fill in the gaps.
The state has experienced an uptick in immigration action, such as last week’s incident with border patrol entering a bus carrying students. As governor, how would you deal with the federal government increasing its focus on deportation?
That was somewhat heartbreaking: a group of high school kids traveling to a sports event they were participating in. We value that about our children when they’re participating in extracurricular activities. First of all, I think the state needs to be very clear about how to inform folks on how to deal with these things. I noticed a couple weeks ago when federal agents were questioning Native Americans from tribal communities, the tribal president from Mescalero Apache put out an information sheet to instruct everyone on the best way to handle these things. We need to make sure that our citizens are informed, above all, and the state needs to ensure that any community is treated with dignity or respect. Everyone’s emotions are high about this because we care about our communities. All our children should be in school. Parents should be able to go to work and not have fear about those things. So I think the job of a governor, aside from ensuring that no one’s civil rights are being violated, is to make sure that we’re standing up for our citizens.
Gov. Lujan Grisham set greenhouse gas emission targets for the state via an executive order in 2019, but a bill codifying those goals was recently tabled in the Senate Finance Committee. Do you have thoughts on how to balance the oil and gas industry with climate change priorities?
We need to do everything we can to have a clean environment for our children. When I was in Congress, I took a trip out to some of these wells. And you could look through the infrared camera and see methane just spewing out of there. As we all know, the methane cloud above New Mexico didn’t happen by accident. I think we need to be much more careful about what we’re spewing into the air, especially in this era of climate change. And I absolutely do believe that we must balance the needs of our state. So many folks put forth the idea that it’s either/or. I think we can do both. I think we can create jobs. I think we can have a clean environment. I think we can watch out for our children’s health all at the same time.
President Trump recently nominated Kathleen Sgamma, who has long standing oil and gas ties, to lead the Bureau of Land Management. How does your time as Interior Secretary inform how you will approach governing and New Mexico’s public lands?
You know, we don’t call New Mexico the Land of Enchantment for nothing. I’ve driven everywhere, almost, in New Mexico over the last two weeks…and we have beautiful landscapes that we really need to protect. What I’ve said many times is that there are places that are too special to drill or mine, and so we need to make sure that here in New Mexico, we’re protecting the spaces that people revere and that bring pride and, quite frankly, joy to the people of New Mexico.
All of our public lands: our streams, our rivers, our mountains, our cultural heritage, the petroglyphs and things of that nature—all of that outdoor economy is important. There are folks who make a living taking people rafting or being a guide on a hike or teaching people to rock climb and so forth. So, that’s another reason why we absolutely need to make sure that these areas have something to offer, because I think a lot of folks are relying on that to keep a roof over their family’s heads.
New Mexico’s efforts to address the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People’s crisis has faced several challenges and setbacks. What will your approach be, given the work you’ve done on this issue in the past? [Haaland launched the Missing and Murdered unit through the Bureau of Indian Affairs during her time as Interior secretary, and led and co-led efforts while in Congress to pass the Not Invisible Act and Savanna’s Act].
With all of the research that has happened over the last several years, we should really take that to heart and look at the ways in which it will benefit our state to investigate these murders, offer help, collaborate with other investigators and law enforcement agencies so that we can find the answers that families are looking for. It’s so important that people have closure…and that we are making every effort to ensure that our families can have the answers that they seek. I think we can collaborate a lot more, and I would absolutely make this a priority.
You were the first Native American appointed to a cabinet secretary position, and many people celebrated that milestone. Right now, the Trump administration has undertaken a dismantling of diversity and equity programs. What do you say to New Mexicans who feel anywhere from discouraged to legitimately threatened as a result?
Here in New Mexico, we have such a multicultural state and there are people who are qualified for so many positions. I just want to say that we lift people up and the communities who have been misrepresented and underrepresented, that it’s still our job to make sure that those communities have a seat at the table and are considered for positions that suit them. It’s terribly sad that they attacked this area of the federal government working to ensure that those communities who have never had a seat at the table, have a seat at the table. If I’m governor, of course, I’m going to care deeply about everybody having an opportunity in our state.
James Carville recently opined in the New York Times that Democrats should retreat and basically do nothing until the Trump administration tanks and then go for the jugular. What do you think Democrats should be doing?
First of all, we need to use our voices. It’s hard to sit back and do nothing when you see that there is so much that is wrong about this administration. I don’t know of anyone who can sit back and do nothing. I know that here in New Mexico, we have some very strong communities, and I think we’re all going to have a part in lifting each other up, and I will continue to be a voice for people who don’t have a voice. But we do need to fight back, so to speak, to ensure that people have what they need. There’s a lot of folks out there relying on the federal government for their everyday life. I’m grateful for the Democratic AGS across the country who have banded together to file lawsuits and challenge some of those decisions, and I hope they continue to do that. People need to know that they’re being stood up for.