Santa Fe – Gov. Bill Richardson said the federal government has failed to keep the nation’s borders secure, so New Mexico and other states were forced to act.
In a letter responding to criticism from Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., the Democratic governor said Wednesday that New Mexico declared a state of emergency along the Mexican border to provide money for law enforcement, vehicles and security equipment.
“The federal government has abdicated its responsibility to keep our borders secure,” Richardson wrote in a letter to Tancredo on Wednesday. “So New Mexico and other states have been forced to stand up and take action on our own.”
Richardson declared the state of emergency in four southern counties last month, and days later Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano followed with a similar emergency in her state.
In doing so, they freed state money for local governments and law enforcement to cope with what Richardson described as increasing border crime and problems related to illegal immigration.
Richardson’s letter was a response to an accusation from Tancredo a day earlier that the money was being used to monitor a volunteer border patrol group, the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps.
Tancredo called monitoring the Minuteman group “unconscionable.”
But Richardson accused Tancredo of distorting the truth “in a desperate attempt to grab another headline” and divert attention from federal inaction.
“Frankly, people are growing tired of your blustering, and would much rather see you and your (colleagues) actually accomplish something for the common good,” Richardson wrote.
A Tancredo spokesman was not immediately available to comment Wednesday.
The state allotted $1 million to Luna, Hidalgo, Grant and Dona Ana counties. Dona Ana County Sheriff Todd Garrison has said he will use the money to pay for border patrols next month during operations by the Minutemen.
But a Richardson spokesman denies that money is being used to monitor the group.
Tancredo, an outspoken critic of U.S. immigration policies, also questioned the governor’s record on immigration issues.
Since becoming governor, Rich ardson has signed legislation into law to allow illegal immigrants to obtain a driver’s license in New Mexico and for children of illegal immigrants to qualify for in-state college tuition.
Tancredo said such laws encourage the illegal immigration that created New Mexico’s state of emergency.
Richardson has said the laws will help reduce the number of uninsured immigrant drivers and expand educational opportunities for children already living in New Mexico.
Republicans also have suggested that politics motivated Richardson’s decision to declare an emergency.
But the governor, who is considered a possible presidential candidate in 2008, has said the declaration was not a calculated political decision.
Richardson issued the emergency order after touring the border region by helicopter and hearing from area residents.
