A recent message from Roundup at the Roundhouse in Santa Fe

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

1. GOV. LUJAN GRISHAM USES STATE FUNDS TO SEND MIGRANTS TO COLORADO AND TEXAS; CITY OF DEMING DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY; REPUBLICANS DEMAND REDEPLOYMENT OF NATIONAL GUARD TROOPS

As many of you already know, Gov. Lujan Grisham opened up state facilities at Expo New Mexico to migrants coming from Central America. And Santa Fe, a sanctuary city for illegal immigrants, decided to donate money to to charities assisting migrants rather than host them in their own city.

Now comes news that $4,000 of state money was used to bus migrants from New Mexico to Denver.

From Colorado Politics.com:

"A bus carrying more than two-dozen asylum-seeking families from the U.S.-Mexico border arrived in Denver about 2 a.m. Monday, courtesy of the New Mexico governor's office.

"The bus included 55 people, mostly from Central America, a portion of the spillover population from the churches and homeless camps filled with about 1,000 immigrants a day arriving in El Paso, Texas, and Las Cruces, N.M.

"New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham made the bus available Sunday for the 10-hour drive, because U.S. immigration officials refuse to transport those allowed into the country more than eight hours from their entry point"

This simply illustrates the hypocrisy of Democrats who on one hand claim to have an open door for immigrants, while instead doing exactly the opposite. They would rather donate money and use state resources to make the problem go away rather than absorb the influx of migrants and the resource strains that come along with it, just like the city of Deming has had to contend with lately (and making national news along the way):

From Reuters:

"The small city of Deming, New Mexico has become the latest U.S. border community to declare a state of emergency after dozens of migrants were released in the town by federal authorities seeking to cope with a surge in asylum seekers coming across the southern U.S. border.

"Deming, a city of about 15,000 residents about 35 miles (56 km) north of the border, made the move on Monday after U.S. Border Patrol agents dropped off about 170 migrants, the Deming Headlight newspaper reported, citing City Administrator Aaron Sera.

"The city declared an emergency “in hopes it will trigger assistance from both the federal government and state officials,” Sera said in an emailed statement on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, border checkpoints in New Mexico continue to remain closed, thus allowing untold numbers of unchecked vehicles to proceed deep into the state and potentially trafficking in drugs. Yet in parts of Texas, where checkpoints remain open, Border Patrol agents recently seized $2 million worth of methamphetamine.

This is why Republican legislators are calling upon the governor to re-deploy the National Guard to the border.

From the Albuquerque Journal:

"A dozen Republican state legislators want Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to reverse course and deploy more National Guard troops to the border with Mexico.

"GOP House lawmakers including minority leader James Townsend of Artesia provided a letter Monday to the governor’s office that urges Lujan Grisham to deploy more state National Guard troops to border communities.

"Lujan Grisham has challenged President Trump’s description of a security crisis on the border and withdrawn all but a dozen national guardsmen who continue to address humanitarian needs in a remote corridor for border-crossing immigration.

"The Republican lawmakers are citing emergency declarations by Otero County over reduced staffing at Border Patrol checkpoints and the city of Deming’s complaints about the strain of sheltering asylum seekers who are released by federal immigration authorities."

2. STUDIES CONFIRM HUGE OIL & GAS INDUSTRY ECONOMIC IMPACT TO NM

Two economic studies released last week confirmed what we already know - that the oil and gas industry is and will continue to play a critical role in New Mexico's economy -- that is, as long as Democrat efforts to threaten the industry continue to fail.

From KOAT Action 7 News:
"Oil and gas production revenue could benefit New Mexico schools for years to come.

"Fields upon fields of fossil fuel in the Permian Basin in southeastern New Mexico plus record-level crude oil production has equaled big bucks for public schools.

"In a report released earlier this year, the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association compiled tax and royalty revenue from oil and gas production in the state and what found, is eye-opening.

"'What we found, is the industry is by far the largest supporter for funding public education and higher ed in our state,' said NMOGA.

"In fiscal year 2018, New Mexico's public schools received $1.06 billion, thanks to oil and gas.

"Statewide for K-12, that could translate to about 17,000 teachers, 7,400 school buses, 11 million textbooks and 2.4 million i-Pads, according to a breakdown provided by the NMOGA."

And if that weren't enough, ExxonMobil, a major investor in New Mexcio's portion of the Permian Basin, has shared with the public an economic analysis that projects at least a $64 BILLION economic impact to New Mexico from their investments alone over the next 40 years.

From the Albuquerque Journal:
"ExxonMobil investments in New Mexico could kick up a $64 billion tidal wave of benefits for the state over the next 40 years, according to a new study released Friday by the oil giant.

"The study calls the company’s existing and planned activities in the Permian Basin in southeastern New Mexico and West Texas a “world-class mega project” that for New Mexico alone will generate about $62 billion in net fiscal benefits over four decades from leases, royalties and taxes. Local communities could also benefit from about $1.8 billion in economic growth....

"It could be a conservative estimate, because the projections are based on $40-per-barrel prices. At $56 per barrel, the study estimates $83 billion in net fiscal benefits."

Republican leadership in the form of a welcoming environment for the oil and gas industry in New Mexico explains why we are experiencing this level of prosperity.

However, now that Democrats are running the state, we can expect more "stunts" such as the one pulled by State Senator Antoinette Sedillo-Lopez in the last legislative session where she submitted a bill to ban fracking in the state. Talk about trying to kill the goose that lays the golden egg!