Immigrant rights groups in New Mexico say they are preparing for possible immigration changes with planned legal clinics and by reaching out to oil field workers. The New Mexico Immigrant Law Center says it will launch a text messaging system targeting immigrants around the state. The organization also will use Skype to assist immigrants living in rural areas. Meanwhile, the Santa Fe-based Somos Un Pueblo Unido says advocates will reach out to workers in the booming oil and gas patch in the eastern part of the state. The group says changes could help those workers immediately get higher paying jobs. President Barack Obama is expected to reveal a long-awaited executive action today to protect many of the estimated 11 million people in the country illegally from deportation.
New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez says Congress should put aside partisan differences and pass comprehensive immigration reform. The Republican and nation's first elected Latina governor said Tuesday in a Washington Times opinion piece that Congress needed to craft a bill that tightens the border and revamps a "dysfunctional system." She says solutions shouldn't reward those who have broken the law but they also shouldn't involve "rolling up the welcome mat." The Martinez piece at the same time she attended the winter session of the Republican Governors Association in Florida. It also came on the eve of President Barack Obama's expected announcement.
Authorities say a missing single-engine plane with two Albuquerque residents aboard has been found in southwest Colorado with no survivors. The Pagosa Springs Sun reports the aircraft was found in the southern part of the county near the New Mexico border at about 12:30 p.m. Wednesday. Killed were 55-year-old Howard Guthrie and 42-year-old Melissa Watson. The plane left Moriarity, New Mexico, on Friday bound for Pagosa Springs, but had to turn around before landing because of bad weather. Federal Aviation Administration records list Guthrie as the owner. Three aircraft and three ground teams searched the area Tuesday, while a state police plane searched in New Mexico. A search crew on the ground found the plane.
Another low-ranking for New Mexico among states is detailed on the Albuquerque Business First website. It reports that a new listing from Forbes magazine ranks New Mexico 47th on its "best states for business and careers" rundown. Even worse, Forbes says the state ranked 50th for quality of life. Other sub-categories were not quite as bad—as New Mexico ranked 27th for business costs and 28th for regulatory environment, just some of the indicators that went into the overall ranking. Forbes ranks Utah number one in the nation for business climate—Mississippi is 50th.
More than two dozen American Indian tribes are teaming up with a tourism group and the National Park Service to tell a new story for travelers along historic Route 66, the famous byway that stretches from Chicago to California. The plan is to create a guidebook using federal grant money that will highlight tribal sites along the 24-hundred-mile route. The book will also detail the histories of Native communities that saw their stretch of the West change because of the road. Representatives from the Park Service and the Chicago American Indian Center were among those at a meeting Wednesday to kick off the project. The American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association is leading the effort. Coordinator Virginia Salazar-Halfmoon says one goal is to dispel stereotypes about Native Americans and their varying cultures.
The technology-based ride-sharing firm Uber has launched operations in Santa Fe, with Mayor Javier Gonzales a key participant. KSFR’s Zelie Pollon prepared this report:
*****112014-AM-Uber 3:08 Q: Std*****
Uber has recently seen some unfriendly press over reports of heavy-handed tactics targeting critics, and has had its existence legally challenged in New Mexico by Taxi businesses.
Santa Fe Weather: Mostly sunny today through tomorrow with highs in the mid-to-upper 40s. Partly cloudy tonight with the overnight low, 28.