By Leslie Bronken

Emergency Management focuses on prevention, preparedness, response to and recovery from all major emergencies and disasters that may affect Luna County. Some of the types of emergencies that occur in Luna County include responses to traffic situations related to high/wind dust storms, widespread flooding situations, rail car accidents, multi-vehicle interstate accidents involving multiple injuries, chemicals spills requiring citizen evacuation, wildfires, and pandemics. In other areas of the country local emergency planners work on emergency responses to hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanoes, earthquakes and other disasters that aren't typically encountered in Luna County.

The Luna Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) is comprised of representatives from the Luna County Sheriff's and Fire Departments, the City of Deming Police and Fire Departments and the NMSP. Other representatives who may be present from time to time include representatives from Customs and Border Patrol, the County Manager's office, City of Deming officials, Deming Public Schools, Detention Center, Community Development, and Emergency Dispatch and other departments as appropriate.

The purpose of the LEPC is to work on and plan for all phases of emergency management and works in coordination with FEMA. In the past, the LEPC/s main focus was on hazardous chemicals and waste products stored in or passing thru Luna County. Currently, the focus is changing to include updating responses to all hazards that may materialize.

Phillip Rodriguez is the current Emergency Manager for Luna County. L.C.S.O. Captain Brown is currently the Chair, NMSP Lieutenant Sosa is Co-Chair and Luna County Risk manager Joanne Moorman is the current secretary. LEPC Meetings are held quarterly at the Luna County Courthouse and are open to the public. Mr. Rodriguez was formerly with the Deming Fire Department.

During the large influx of migrants that swamped Luna County in 2019, the LEPC did not play a large role in the response. The response was handled by our local government officials, both elected and appointed, first responders (DPD, DFD, LCSO, LCVFD, LCDC, NMSP), as well as volunteers from the community. The LEPC is currently discussing being involved in any future similar situations that may develop and training for citizen volunteers.

The Deming/Luna County Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) held its quarterly meeting on October 12, 2021.

The LEPC has been working on updating its Emergency Action Plans as some of the existing response plans have expired or are nearing expiration. Luna County is currently updating its Hazard Mitigation Plan with a scheduled completion of January 2022 and full FEMA approval by March-April 2022.

Due to FEMA regulations, Rodriguez announced he is considering bringing in a 3rd party who specializes in Emergency Action Plans to assist with the project. He will be applying for a FEMA grant, which will cover approximately 75% of the costs.

The representative from Customs and Border Patrol was unable to attend meeting to present an update about the migrant surge at the border. Mr. Rodriguez informed there are currently no migrants being treated at the Mimbres Memorial Hospital. In addition, there were no asylum seekers being temporarily housed in Luna County.

Title 42 is more commonly known as former President Trump's Remain-in-Mexico law. Migrants claiming asylum along the border are transferred to and processed in El Paso. From there, they remain in Mexico to await further proceedings, or are sent back to their home country. Others that are exempt from Title 42 are processed. Rodriguez explained the current administration is trying to get away from the Title 42 processing.

Another provision in Title 42 includes immediate deportation for those persons who entered the US illegally. Expulsion can be at any port of entry along the border.

Rodriguez announced during the meeting there will be a FEMA ICS (Incident Command System)Training available online.

Mr. Rodriguez later clarified that the FEMA ICS training session is a basic training course for community volunteers. After the migrant crisis several years ago, Mr. Rodriguez noticed that the community volunteers had no knowledge of or training in the Incident Command System used by government employees. Having a basic understanding of the ICS system is vital for a smooth and fluid incident response.

For those citizens who would like to volunteer and help the county with emergency disaster responses, please contact Rodriguez at 575-543-6569. Volunteers will need to take the basic introductory online class ICS 100 offered by FEMA, and optionally the ICS 700 course. Other more advanced classes for citizens are also available.

While not on the agenda, Rodriguez invited the public to share any concerns or make comments.

The concerns expressed dealt mostly with the illegal alien surge on the border, the increase in numbers crossing into the US and the slow response time when calling 911. Concern was also expressed about a large group of some 60,000 currently headed to the border.

During this discussion, it was learned that law enforcement in Deming and Luna County are swamped and run non-stop from call-to-call handling items within their jurisdiction such as traffic, homicide, burglaries, assault, etc. For residents living in the rural areas of the county, there are limited number of officers to cover a huge amount of territory. At times there will be response delays depending on the types of calls in progress.

Calls regarding illegal aliens passing thru the area should be directed to the CBP-Deming 575-544-6100 or 911 emergency service. Please report number of people, any available descriptions such as clothing that will help identify the persons, the direction headed, and time spotted.

There is no specific training program for citizens to help law enforcement coordinate to help capture illegal aliens. Citizens are encouraged to continue to call CBP. NMSP Lt. Sosa agreed that residents can network together to be spotters to update where groups are traveling and keep CBP up-to-date to make it easier to track them.

Concerns were expressed about the increase in crime from illegal aliens. According to police, the bulk of the crimes being committed are being committed by local resident career criminals, not illegal aliens. Part of the reason for the increase in crime can be attributed to the Bail Reform legislation that was passed by the Democrat-majority Legislature. As a result, criminals arrested get out on bail nearly immediately, only to commit another crime shortly thereafter, much to the frustration of law enforcement.

One suggestion made to remedy the situation is to vote out the current lawmakers and vote in new lawmakers who will reform this law, to help law enforcement keep the criminals off the streets.

Officers reminded citizens that shooting a firearm up into the air to scare off anyone, including illegal aliens, is against the law. Shooting at the ground is safer. (Note: projectiles can ricochet and can injure someone or cause property damage. Firearm owners are responsible for any damage or injuries, and can be arrested.)

Officers also related that the current legislators removed qualified immunity protections to law enforcement, which is making it hard to keep and attract officers, as well as other government officials. This has resulted in officers being put in a position of being at risk of losing their homes/assets for actions taken while doing their job. (In context, what was implied was that as more officers retire or quit that aren't replaced by new hires, response time to 911 calls may get even longer.)

For those interested, citizens can apply to ride-along with an officer during a shift to see the volume and types of calls that occur during a typical shift. Contact the local sheriff's office or Deming PD if you would like to participate as an observer.

Notables from the Jul 13, 2021 LEPC Minutes:
• Emergency Management had hardly any information about the migrant surge at that time.

• Greyhound is looking for a new store to provide service.

• There is no public transportation hub in the county or the city.

• Rodriguez later clarified that Border Patrol follows an I.C.E. policy when it comes to releasing Asylum Seekers into the public, but they are not bound by that policy. They are able to release them into the community, if need be, but we have been assured by the Agent in charge of our local Border Patrol station that that will not happen. They will continue to coordinate transportation to the El Paso Central Processing Center (CPC).

• The county has applied to the State for funds to rebuild the old jail next to 911 Dispatch to house a new Emergency Management office and turn that into a real emergency operations center.

• A developer from Phoenix would like to acquire/develop thousands of acres as a habitat for animals and plants. This would be a 4-H- and FFA-friendly area.

• There were discussions about possibly having an indoor shooting range, but this would be a long-term project.

• A California company (Bassboss) is looking to purchase a large tract of land south of the city to build a manufacturing plant.

• The county received $160,000 from the state legislature for law enforcement safety equipment.

• NMSP would like to purchase trailers that capture license plates. They are hoping the funding will come from Operation Stonegarden federal funding. (Operation Stonegarden is a joint effort to help secure the borders.)

The next LEPC meeting will be held in January 2022.