Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s latest emergency declaration in New Mexico is a desperate attempt to tame a crime wave swallowing Rio Arriba County. On Wednesday, the Democrat governor declared a state of emergency in Rio Arriba County, Española, and Pueblo Indian communities, citing a surge in violent crime and drug trafficking, as the Daily Caller reports. Her move signals a rare admission that progressive policies have failed to keep streets safe.
The declaration targets overwhelmed local authorities struggling with doubled police calls and quadrupled business dispatches in Española over the past two years. Rio Arriba County, home to two Native American Pueblo communities, bears the grim distinction of New Mexico’s highest overdose death rate. Fentanyl addiction is ravaging residents, exposing the hollow promises of soft-on-crime approaches.
Grisham’s office claims the emergency will funnel up to $750,000 to the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. This cash is meant to bolster response efforts and restore public safety. But throwing money at a problem rooted in lax enforcement raises eyebrows.
“When our local leaders called for help to protect their communities, we responded immediately with decisive action,” Grisham said in a Wednesday statement. Immediately? Two years of skyrocketing crime suggest her “decisiveness” is more about political survival than genuine leadership.
The emergency order will stay in place until the funds run dry or the crisis magically resolves itself. Given the track record of bureaucratic spending, don’t hold your breath for quick results. Taxpayers deserve better than reactive governance.
Rio Arriba’s fentanyl-driven overdose crisis underscores a broader failure to tackle drug trafficking head-on. While Grisham pours funds into coordination, the real issue -- cartels and open borders -- goes unaddressed. It’s a Band-Aid on a gaping wound.
Just days before Grisham’s announcement, President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard to curb crime in Washington, D.C. Grisham, alongside Albuquerque’s Democratic Mayor Tim Keller, called Trump’s move a “massive executive overreach” in a joint press release. Hypocrisy much? Declaring emergencies to combat crime is fine when she does it.
“Here in New Mexico, we are addressing public safety challenges by bringing local and state resources together to make our communities safer,” Grisham and Keller claimed. Their sanctimonious tone ignores the reality: their “resources” haven’t stopped the body count from climbing. Actions speak louder than press releases.
Grisham’s history of emergency declarations shows a pattern of too-little, too-late. In April 2024, she called in the New Mexico National Guard to tackle Albuquerque’s crime spike. Why does every solution seem to come after the problem spirals out of control?
Grisham’s September 2023 public health order banning firearms in Albuquerque’s parks and playgrounds was a flop. Scrapped in October 2024 after bipartisan backlash, it did nothing to curb gun violence. Her faith in restrictive gun laws over enforcing existing ones reeks of progressive dogma.
The Española police, stretched thin by a doubling of calls, can’t keep up with the chaos. Businesses, hit with a quadruple increase in dispatches, are likely fed up with the state’s slow response. Grisham’s emergency funds might help, but they’re no substitute for real accountability.
Fentanyl’s grip on Rio Arriba County highlights the human cost of unchecked drug trafficking. Families are torn apart, and communities are left to pick up the pieces. Yet Grisham’s focus remains on emergency declarations rather than prevention.
“We are making every resource available to support our local partners on the ground and restore public safety and stability,” Grisham said. Resources are great, but where’s the plan to lock up traffickers and secure the border? Her statement sounds like a feel-good platitude, not a strategy.
The state’s highest overdose death rate in Rio Arriba County demands more than temporary funding. Conservative calls for tougher sentencing and border security have been dismissed for years, yet the crisis worsens. Maybe it’s time to listen.
New Mexico’s crime surge is a warning: progressive policies breed chaos, and emergency declarations are no substitute for law and order. Grisham’s latest move might buy time, but without real reform, Rio Arriba County will keep bleeding. The people deserve leaders who prioritize safety over politics.
