Two New Mexico Republican lawmakers told Newsmax on Thursday that the deployment of the National Guard in the state is misdirected and doesn't address one larger issue driving up crime rates.
State Sens. Ant Thornton and Nicole Tobiassen joined Newsmax's "National Report" to react to New Mexico Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's order sending the National Guard to help out local authorities in Albuquerque amid its crime crisis.
"Unfortunately, I think she's missed the mark by about 250 miles," Thornton said, saying National Guard troops need to be at the border, not Albuquerque.
Lujan Grisham declared a state of emergency in the state's largest city on Tuesday, clearing the way for up to 70 troops to be deployed next month. Lujan Grisham's emergency declaration follows a March 31 request by Albuquerque's police chief, who pointed to the fentanyl epidemic and an increase in violent juvenile crime.
Tobiassen said people "are living in absolute fear."
But Thornton said he's "not sure" deploying the National Guard is "going to make a difference whatsoever."
"I think it's important to acknowledge the fact that our Democrat governor finally recognizes that she is overseeing a border state, and I'm really glad that she's actually engaging the National Guard," he said.
However, "The National Guard needs to be at the border, helping out Customs and Border Patrol and ICE, where we know that we've had fentanyl, human trafficking actually occurring on a regular basis coming across our border. And so that's the issue that really needs to be addressed," he added. "And that's why we have so much crime here in New Mexico."
Further, Tobiassen said Grisham needs to take action on bail reform, too.
"If I were the governor, I'd be calling leadership in the [Democrat] majority on both the House and Senate side and demanding we repeal bail reform," Tobiassen said. "We have a catch-and-release policy, so it doesn't matter who's helping. And this is not to be disrespectful to our police officers and the National Guard, God bless them all.
"However, if we actually put criminals in jail and kept them there for the appropriate amount of time, we wouldn't have half the problems that we're seeing right now," she added.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
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Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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