Commentary

A Texas National Guardsman observes as Border Patrol agents pat down migrants who have surrendered themselves for processing at Gate 42, some after waiting near the wall for days, May 10, 2023.

As Title 42 ends, U.S. immigration policies will be more restrictive against people seeking asylum

BY: - May 11, 2023

The Biden administration is not treating the end of Title 42 as the expiration of a public health policy but rather as a pivot point where a crisis will justify a massive investment in border externalization. Border externalization occurs when wealthy countries like the U.S. set up policies and make programs to ensure that asylum […]

An aerial view of the American flags flying over an international bridge as immigrants line up next to the U.S.-Mexico border fence to seek asylum on Dec. 22, 2022 in El Paso, Texas.

‘Single most restrictive border policy’ in U.S. history ends May 11

BY: - May 10, 2023

Title 42 was never understood to be about public health but rather a convenient and vicious way to empower the Department of Homeland Security to turn asylum seekers away at the border. It closed the border for asylum seekers and Title 42 has been an extraordinarily effective tool for law enforcement to push people back […]

Kid Rock & friends trying to find a beer to cry in

BY: - May 1, 2023

I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when I saw the video of Kid Rock using an assault rifle to blow apart a case of Bud Light. (If you just thought to yourself, “What’s a Kid Rock?” advance 10 spaces and collect my undying admiration.) A quick explanation: Kid Rock is a multi-genre singer-songwriter […]

Indigeneity’s data dilemma

BY: - April 17, 2023

What kind of story does the data tell about Indigenous communities? That, dear reader, is a trick question. Any answer is complicated and nuanced. And this is especially true because there is no shared definition of race or ethnicity (on the other hand, tribal citizenship is clear. You are either a member or not.) The […]

Gun violence is a proxy war on the American public

BY: - April 4, 2023

As the riot of gun violence in America produces fresh massacres by the day, firearm fundamentalists refuse to acknowledge the blood on their hands, and their suicidal stance in the face of escalating carnage is that more guns are the answer. But it’s worse than that. Take a close look at the arguments that gun […]

Memories that start with a pickup truck

BY: - March 9, 2023

I am flooded today with memories of Peterson Zah. The first time I met him was when I was covering the 1982 Navajo Nation election between Zah and Peter MacDonald Sr. One of the stories he told – and I used high up in the story – is now legend. If elected, he promised to […]

Restoration of voting rights is critical to reintegrating back into society

BY: - March 1, 2023

Many who have been formerly incarcerated, including myself, agree that connection to our community is our most critical lifeline when reintegrating into society after the completion of a prison sentence.  We are thrust into society and are told to find a job, a place to live, and support ourselves financially, while all these processes present […]

White-throated swifts carry insects to feed their young, nestled against the bottom of bridges along the Rio Grande.

Still Pools: Teeming with life at the edge

BY: - February 27, 2023

SUNLAND PARK — Below the crags of Mount Cristo Rey, a string of little pools in the riverbed reflect its steep hills and white cross perched atop the peak. Black-necked stilts pick their way across on shocking pink legs, pushing through vibrant grass. A lone peacock, gone feral, zips through the streambed, interrupting the mountain’s […]

A chance for NM to light the way out of suffering, abuse

BY: - February 17, 2023

In 2019, a young nurse came to the United States from El Salvador. Her name was Joana Medina León but she was known as Joa. She came seeking asylum at the U.S. border. Joa was trans and because her gender assigned at birth was male, she was detained by ICE in an all male unit […]

Tell me a story. Say true things.

BY: - February 13, 2023

I’m sitting in my backyard. It’s still winter. The sun doesn’t seem to know.  It’s my last day as the editor of Source New Mexico. I don’t seem to know either. Not really. Incoming Editor Shaun Griswold gave me an assignment: write a love letter to my home state, to be published on his first […]

Expanding Indigenous access to the ballot is good for democracy

BY: - February 9, 2023

Indigenous communities across the U.S. are being denied the full measure of our civil rights, including the right to fully participate in the democratic process. Native Americans make up at least 12% of New Mexico’s population, but you’d be hard-pressed to find that representation in any sector within the state — especially in the political […]

Demonstrators block traffic in Memphis after police released video footage depicting the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols.

The infection of anti-Black bias in U.S. society and policing

BY: - February 3, 2023

Once again, Americans are left reeling from the horror of video footage showing police brutalizing an unarmed Black man who later died. Some details in the latest case of extreme police violence were gut-wrenchingly familiar: a police traffic stop of a Black male motorist turned violent. But, for many of us, other details were unfamiliar: […]