Inaugural ‘News and Brews’ series deconstructs Trump’s first 100 days

The kickoff of NM Political Report’s monthly News and Brews summer series Thursday night featured a candid discussion about how the first 100 days of Donald Trump’s presidency affected New Mexicans from different perspectives. Our own Environment Reporter Laura Paskus moderated the event, which featured insight from immigration attorney and Santa Fe Dreamers Project Director […]

Inaugural ‘News and Brews’ series deconstructs Trump’s first 100 days

The kickoff of NM Political Report’s monthly News and Brews summer series Thursday night featured a candid discussion about how the first 100 days of Donald Trump’s presidency affected New Mexicans from different perspectives.

Our own Environment Reporter Laura Paskus moderated the event, which featured insight from immigration attorney and Santa Fe Dreamers Project Director Allegra Love, former U.S. Department of Agriculture New Mexico State Director for Rural Development Terry Brunner and former Islamic Center of New Mexico President Abbas Akhil.

Brunner, who headed USDA grants for New Mexico for rural development under the Obama administration, described Trump’s first 100 days as “fast and scary, kind of like a rollercoaster.”

“You wake up in the morning, it’s something completely new and different every day,” he said.

Brunner warned that the effect of Trump’s “drain the swamp” rhetoric combined with picking officials without traditional qualifications to run federal agencies will “spread fear throughout the bureaucracy” and cause federal workers to “hunker down” and bring government’s delivery on services to the public “to a really slow lethargic pace.”

Brunner mentioned how in January, House Republicans evoked an obscure rule allowing them to drop federal employees’ salaries to just $1, which he argued is meant to “intimidate federal employees.”

“The [James] Comey firing is a sign that nobody’s job is secure,” he said, referring to Trump’s abrupt dismissal of the FBI director earlier this week.

Love, who directs the Santa Fe Dreamers Project, a legal services group that helps undocumented families, said the immigrant community began to feel the effects of Trump‘s incoming presidency the day after he was elected. The first casualty, as Love described it, was the mental health of children.

“They are not dumb, they listened to 18 months of attacks on their families, on outsiders,” she said. “They woke up [on Nov. 9] pretty afraid. That has not stopped at all. If anything, it’s intensified as arrests [of immigrants] went up and people started to disappear from our communities.”

Allegra described herself as having “no love lost” between her and the Department of Homeland Security, which houses the U.S. Immigrant and Customs Enforcement (ICE), under President Barack Obama. Obama, who she called the “deporter in chief,” deported more people from the country than any president before him.

“But he did it methodically,” Love said, explaining that Obama prioritized deporting people with unexecuted orders of deportation, people with aggravated felonies and recent entrants from Central America. “Trump removed that scaffolding and let the agents off the hook and said, ‘Our plan is to deport as many people as possible and you need to do this in any way possible.’”

Akhil described New Mexico’s Muslim community as comprised mostly of immigrants. He said many who normally travel back to their country of origin to visit family will not do so under Trump for the time being.

“Even if they’re citizens, they can be detained for even packing the wrong gel in their bag,” he said. “So the uncertainty is great.”

Under the Obama administration, Akhil said, “there was a little bit of humanity.” ICE would not enter “sacred ground” like mosques and places of worship, for example, to do detain a person “unless that person was criminally charged.” But he said now he fears federal authorities will cross that boundary, and he questioned what “sanctuary” will really mean.

Every time Trump speaks ill of minorities, Akhil argued, he sets a precedent “for an ICE officer to be as brutal and inhumane as possible.”

He also lamented how people in other countries “liken us to exactly how it is for countries ruled by dictators.”

“Now we are at a stage that’s so sad,” he said. “We’re at a stage or standard where we’re being reduced to a third world country.”

Still, each panelist spoke about positives. Brunner talked about the challenges New Mexico’s rural communities face—related to childcare, transportation, solid waste and access to health care—and how they need to hear from people with “exciting policies that solve people’s problems.” He described how rural areas in the state and country that voted for Trump and are often neglected by government.

Love said people could support immigrant communities by taking steps to learn Spanish, reaching out to different churches, volunteering to tutor students and donating to organizations that are working with immigrants. Abbas talked about how more than 2,000 people in Albuquerque rallied at the airport to support immigrant communities during the erratic rollout of Trump’s travel ban.

The NM Political Report News and Brews summer series will continue the second Thursday of each month on the 7th floor of the Simms Building in downtown Albuquerque.

We're ad free

That means that we rely on support from readers like you. Help us keep reporting on the most important New Mexico Stories by donating today.

Related

Lujan Grisham pocket vetoes two bills

Lujan Grisham pocket vetoes two bills

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham pocket vetoed two bills the legislature passed this legislative session: one changing the Cybersecurity Act and the other concerning law…
Gov signs bills with some vetoes 

Gov signs bills with some vetoes 

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed 69 bills that the legislature passed during the 2024 legislative session. These included the General Appropriations Act which contains…
Guv signs state budget

Guv signs state budget

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed the budget bill for Fiscal Year 2025 and the Capital Outlay spending bill. The FY25 state budget bill passed…
State fines oil company more than $2 million after spill

State fines oil company more than $2 million after spill

The Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department fined an oil and gas company operating in the Permian Basin more than $2 million over produced…
PRC denies request to build LNG storage facility

PRC denies request to build LNG storage facility

The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission unanimously rejected a request by the New Mexico Gas Co. to build, own and operate a liquified natural…
NM Supreme Court upholds Community Solar Rule

NM Supreme Court upholds Community Solar Rule

Hours after the New Mexico Supreme Court heard arguments in the investor-owned utilities’ appeal of the community solar rule, the justices upheld the regulations…
Amid new graduation requirements, what do high schoolers want to learn?

Amid new graduation requirements, what do high schoolers want to learn?

By Margaret O’Hara, The Santa Fe New Mexican The main things that bring Brayan Chavez to school every day: Seeing, talking to and engaging with…
Special ed teachers hope lawmakers OK pay raises, admin changes

Special ed teachers hope lawmakers OK pay raises, admin changes

By Margaret O’Hara, The Santa Fe New Mexican Brittany Behenna Griffith has a laundry list of adjectives to describe the ideal special education teacher:…
Lawmakers must find consensus on competing education spending plans

Lawmakers must find consensus on competing education spending plans

By Margaret O’Hara, The Santa Fe New Mexican A challenging task awaits New Mexico lawmakers in the next 30 days: Reconciling three very different…
Lujan Grisham, Biden admin announce $10 million in federal funds for tribes, pueblos

Lujan Grisham, Biden admin announce $10 million in federal funds for tribes, pueblos

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Friday $10 million in funding from the federal American Rescue Plan Act was awarded to six tribal nations and…
Proposal to curb executive powers moves to House Judiciary

Proposal to curb executive powers moves to House Judiciary

The House Government, Elections and Indian Affairs Committee discussed a potential constitutional amendment that seeks to limit the governor’s executive powers. The committee approved…
Supreme Court censures attorney over conduct in anti-COVID policy suits

Supreme Court censures attorney over conduct in anti-COVID policy suits

The New Mexico State Supreme Court censured a New Mexico attorney because of her “misconduct” in two unsuccessful cases pushing back on COVID-19 regulations…
Supreme Court to hear two abortion cases this spring

Supreme Court to hear two abortion cases this spring

Later this month, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the case against the abortion medication mifepristone. It will hear a second…
How Biden, others highlighted reproductive rights at the State of the Union

How Biden, others highlighted reproductive rights at the State of the Union

President Joe Biden highlighted reproductive rights issues as part of his State of the Union speech Thursday. Biden delivered his 2024 State of the…
Stansbury invites OB-GYN doctor as her state of the union guest 

Stansbury invites OB-GYN doctor as her state of the union guest 

U.S. House of Rep. Melanie Stansbury has invited an OB-GYN doctor from Roswell as her guest for President Joe Biden’s State of the Union…
Supreme Court to hear two abortion cases this spring

Supreme Court to hear two abortion cases this spring

Later this month, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the case against the abortion medication mifepristone. It will hear a second…
How Biden, others highlighted reproductive rights at the State of the Union

How Biden, others highlighted reproductive rights at the State of the Union

President Joe Biden highlighted reproductive rights issues as part of his State of the Union speech Thursday. Biden delivered his 2024 State of the…
Stansbury invites OB-GYN doctor as her state of the union guest 

Stansbury invites OB-GYN doctor as her state of the union guest 

U.S. House of Rep. Melanie Stansbury has invited an OB-GYN doctor from Roswell as her guest for President Joe Biden’s State of the Union…
See who’s going to be on your primary ballot in June

See who’s going to be on your primary ballot in June

Tuesday marked the official beginning of the 2024 New Mexico primary season for the legislature, with candidates officially filing for candidacy. This is the…

Bill to require disclosure of use of AI in campaign materials goes to governor

The Senate approved a bill aiming to require the disclosure of the use of artificial intelligence or other changes made by computers to campaign…
House amends, passes bill banning firearms near polling places

House amends, passes bill banning firearms near polling places

The House narrowly approved a bill that would ban firearms near polling places. The House voted 35-34 to pass the bill following an extensive…
U.S. Supreme Court lets ban on Couy Griffin from holding office stand

U.S. Supreme Court lets ban on Couy Griffin from holding office stand

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of a Republican official who was barred from holding office after being convicted for a…
Politics Newsletter: legislative leaders not running for reelection

Politics Newsletter: legislative leaders not running for reelection

Hello fellow political junkies! Candidate filing day has come and gone, and members of House and Senate leadership opted to either not seek reelection…
Lujan Grisham, Biden admin announce $10 million in federal funds for tribes, pueblos

Lujan Grisham, Biden admin announce $10 million in federal funds for tribes, pueblos

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Friday $10 million in funding from the federal American Rescue Plan Act was awarded to six tribal nations and…

GET INVOLVED

© 2023 New Mexico Political Report