ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez said the nation’s immigration enforcement policies should distinguish between the “various situations” of people living in the country illegally.
In an interview with the Albuquerque Journal published Sunday (https://bit.ly/2lbwFoH), Martinez warned against allowing harsh rhetoric to get ahead of policymaking that should treat “multiple problems” in immigration policy with “multiple answers.”
“Definitely, those that commit crimes in this country do not belong in this country. They need to be removed,” she said. “Someone who doesn’t have a home to go to (outside this country), who has worked and paid their taxes, and been involved in the community and has an American child . what is the solution for that? How different is that from someone who is dealing drugs? There could be various answers to the various situations.”
She did reiterate that she has long opposed efforts to make New Mexico a so-called sanctuary for undocumented immigrants.
Martinez said her message to President Donald Trump’s administration would be to include people who live on the border in conversations about border-related policies.
Trump’s Jan. 25 executive order authorizing the construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border also directed federal departments and agencies to enforce immigration laws more strictly. The order did not restrict immigration enforcement to unauthorized immigrants convicted of violent crimes, as the policy had been under the Obama administration.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents rounded up hundreds of unauthorized immigrants last week during enforcement operations in Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago, New York and elsewhere. There was no large-scale enforcement action in New Mexico last week.
“The president’s No. 1 priority is to keep Americans safe, to have a secure border to keep out people who want to cause us harm,” Martinez said. “I don’t think anybody disagrees with a secure border. Now, what that looks like, I think that’s still in discussion.”
The governor has often taken a more moderate tone on immigration at the national versus state level; she faced criticism from immigrants’ rights groups for her push to repeal the 2003 state driver’s licenses law.
Martinez stressed that there is a difference between a convicted criminal and a mother and son who happen to be undocumented. Martinez said a few weeks ago she was stopped outside a movie theater by a young boy who asked if his mother, who came to America when she was five, was going to be deported.
“I said, ’Look, why don’t you let us grown-ups worry about things like that?” Martinez said “. She has been here a very, very long time and hopefully the grown-ups are going to come up with ideas that are going to make sure we’re never splitting up your mom from you.’”
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Information from: Albuquerque Journal, https://www.abqjournal.com
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