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State of New Mexico

Michelle Luj an Grisham
Governor

May 21,2019

The Honorable Representative James Townsend, et al.
490 Old Santa Fe Trail
Santa Fe, N.M., 87501

Dear Honorable Representative,

I am writing in response to your May 20 letter, in which you outlined your perception of a ?lack of
action? on the part of my administration with regard to assisting local communities along the southern
border of our state. I?m happy to report to you my administration has been working diligently for months
on these very issues in coordination with local governments as well as nonpro?t organizations and am
happier still to enumerate certain of these efforts as well as prospective action in the near?term that will
further alleviate pressure in border communities.

I agree with your assertion that local communities need our assistance. Federal agencies. are releasing
hundreds of asylum?seeking migrants into New Mexico every day. These asylum seekers, to be clear, are
in need of rest, water, food and, on occasion, minor medical check?ups. They have made arduous journeys
from Central America, many of them ?eeing starvation and violence. The overwhelming majority of these
individuals and families simply pass through our state; asylum seekers generally remain in New Mexico
for 24 to 72 hours before traveling to a sponsor family elsewhere in the U.S. It is our duty as a state, in the
absence of a comprehensive shift in strategy and personnel deployment on the part of the federal
govemment, to accommodate and facilitate the needs of both these asylum seekers and the local
communities where they are being released.

I further agree with your assertion that the situation requires a methodical and coordinated response. State
government has endeavored to create such an environment; the situation is aggravated by the dereliction
of federal agencies. The state Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management has
maintained a consistent and vocal personnel presence in affected communities; indeed, the work this
agency has conducted to date would seem to overlap with your request for that agency to lead a ?crisis
response team.? My Homeland Security agency has established incident command systems in both cities,
developed comprehensive incident action plans, coordinated volunteer work with diligent nonpro?t
groups and provided overall logistical support, among other ancillary actions. Contributing to these
efforts have been the state Department of Health, which has deployed a medical unit; the state
Department of Corrections, which has assisted nonpro?t shelters with laundry services; and New Mexico
State Police, which has conducted additional patrols in southern jurisdictions in order to supplement local
law enforcement; to specify only a few. Specific to your reference to the ?emergency? declared by Otero
County government in response to the federal government?s decision to abandon a checkpoint within that
jurisdiction, I would note state police were assigned to assist there immediately and have generated
hundreds of citations and several felony arrests, to highlight only a few items. My administration is ?rmly

State Capitol - Room 400 Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 - 505?476-2200

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The Honorable Representative James Townsend
May 21, 2019

committed to assisting local governments in any feasible way, shape or form whenever a genuine need is
articulated. However, a deployment of state troops to man a federal checkpoint would be inappropriate
and untenable. I urge you all to write to appropriate federal contacts when the perceived issue is one of
federal authon'ty and decision-making. Together, our message is stronger.

The circumstances of federal releases of asylum seekers into New Mexico communities, as you may or
may not know, are fluid. The communication our state agencies and nonprofit organizations receive from
federal agencies is not always linear, clear or premeditated. Your characterization of a recent state?
facilitated bus trip to Denver as an ?error? or a result of ?inadequate planning? betrays an ignorance of the
reality that planning is definitely problematic in light of scattershot communication from federal agencies
and a roughly 1,800-agent personnel shortage within U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. That shortage, in
particular, has raised my concern about the potential for lapses in border security as it pertains to drug-
and human-traf?cking efforts. I have expressed this concern to both the former and current secretary of
the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and am traveling to Washington, DC, this week to continue
to push for a solution in addition to full federal reimbursement of costs incurred by local communities. I
welcome and encourage you lending your voices and support to my effort on this front.

This state has been and will continue to be responsive to needs as they arise and committed to creative
problem?solving amidst the chaotic situation created by federal agency activities. I would like to note, for
your bene?t, that my administration has created a grant application process through which local
government agencies will be reimbursed for expenses incurred in response to this situation. These grants,
through funds appropriated by the state Legislature, are intended to help defray the costs incurred by local
agencies. This is precisely the sort of targeted assistance I believe you, in your letter, articulate as needed.
Nonpro?t organizations in border communities and elsewhere have conducted precisely this sort of work,
on a smaller scale, for decades; it?s my role, as governor, to create a structure in which those
organizations are engaged and supported while I seek reimbursement and other appropriate assistance
from the federal government.

As it pertains to your request for a deployment of the state National Guard, I would highlight the
prohibitive cost of any such deployment as well as the general inapplicability of the tremendous skills and
capacity of our National Guard troops to the present needs in affected border communities. The estimated
cost of deploying one troop for one day?s work is roughly $200 at a minimum. As such, a deployment of
100 troops for one day is projected at $20,000 at a minimum. Such a deployment over one month is
projected at $600,000 at a minimum.

The prior state administration?s deployment of National Guard troops to the border to assist federal
agencies is immaterial to the current situation. State National Guard troops, under Operation Guardian
Support, were expressly prohibited from immigration enforcement work; the National Guard troops I
have assigned to remain in the Bootheel as part of that original detail remain prohibited from conducting
that sort of work. When I visited the border to evaluate the efficacy of the operation, one of several visits
to the southern part of the state I have personally made, no one agency could provide a coherent rationale
for the presence of our state troops. By every indication, they were assigned to the border to bolster the
mere perception of a need for militarized support; however, they were precluded by the federal
government from assisting with the actual requirements and needs of the situation on the ground.

State Capitol - Room 400 - Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 - 505-476?2200

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The Honorable Representative James Townsend
May 21, 2019

Costs aside, a military response to a humanitarian matter would be a misguided use of state resources at
best and a cynical ploy to paper over genuine and entrenched humanitarian and logistical issues at worst.
As you identify in your letter, shelter and transportation are of primary concern; as have said repeatedly,
a misapplication of available federal resources has exacerbated those concerns. State National Guard
troops, while diligent and flexible, are not equipped or authorized to manage or assist with immigration
enforcement efforts.

I am and will remain open to suggestions and guidance as to the state?s response to the situation in certain
of our border communities. I look forward to your assistance and support as the government of this state
continues to seek out and establish solutions to the humanitarian crisis at our southern border.

Sincerely,
I I
llama m.
Michelle Lujan ham
Governor

State of New Mexico

State Capitol - Room 400 Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 - 505-476-2200