New Mexico
ICE confrontation in Ruidoso rattles Mescalero Apache Tribe – New Mexico Political Report
By Nicole Maxwell
Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents questioned a Mescalero Apache tribal member Wednesday and asked for a passport, according to Mescalero Apache President Thora Walsh-Padilla.
Walsh-Padilla said in a statement that the incident was verified Thursday afternoon.
“While this is the only incident we have been able to verify, Tribal leadership is actively working with the New Mexico Congressional Delegation to ensure that the rights of Tribal Members are protected,” Walsh-Padilla said in the statement. “To be safe, be aware of your surroundings, let family members/friends know where you are, and keep identification with you at all times.”
ICE agents questioned a family standing in line in front of a Mescalero Apache tribal member and the family was escorted outside, according to the statement.
An ICE agent approached the tribal member in Spanish to which the tribal member replied they spoke English.
Names were not released.
The ICE agent then asked the tribal member for a passport and in response, the tribal member presented their driver’s license and tribal identification to the ICE agent who then ended questioning and left, according to the statement.
“We want to ensure that Mescalero Apache Tribal members can effectively communicate their rights and concerns in relation to federal agents, fostering resilience and solidarity among tribal members,” a Mescalero Apache news release states.
The incident follows President Donald Trump’s announcement that expanded immigration enforcement activities were on the way.
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez issued guidance on Wednesday outlining protections against unreasonable search and seizure.
Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren warned Navajo people living in urban areas about potential interactions with immigration agents.
Requests for comment from ICE about the incident were not returned.
Related
A man is facing murder charges after allegedly admitting to deputies that he fatally shot two people inside a New Mexico home after receiving “an encrypted message in a cockroach” that he “needed to kill,” authorities say.
Alexis Hernandez, 25, was arrested and charged with two open counts of murder in connection with a Friday incident inside a southwest Albuquerque home, according to the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office.
Hernandez was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center on Saturday morning, and it is not immediately clear if he has retained a lawyer.
Authorities have not identified the men killed in the incident or the two young children who were also found inside the house at the time.
According to the arrest warrant affidavit filed at the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court, deputies responded to reports of gunfire in southwest Albuquerque just before 10:30 p.m. When deputies arrived, they were met at the front door by Hernandez, who “had a firearm on his waistband and a Marine Corps Sabre on his hip,” the arrest warrant said.
Hernandez, who was immediately detained, told deputies he was in the Marines and “had to do what he had to do,” the warrant states. He then allegedly stated there were two dead bodies inside the residence.
Once inside the house, the warrant states, deputies found one dead man “with possible gunshot wounds” in the front of the house and a second man with apparent stab wounds in an attached apartment.
The two children who were found inside were safely removed from the residence, the arrest warrant states.
In an interview with deputies after he was taken into custody, Hernandez said that he knew the two slain men, one of whom was the owner of the property, according to the warrant. He then allegedly said he had believed the property owner was a friend who had been stalking him during the days leading up to the incident.
The warrant states Hernandez alleged the friend had placed cameras in the lights. Hernandez also told deputies that he was allegedly “hearing creepy voices coming from the vents” and “had been getting signs” that he had to end the property owner before he ended him.
Hernandez later allegedly told deputies that he also had received “an encrypted message in a cockroach” that he “needed to kill” the property owner, the warrant says. He added that the property owner allegedly did not like cockroaches.
The warrant states that Hernandez had previously purchased a Glock handgun, which he said he had for “protection.” Hernandez told deputies that on Friday the two men allegedly took him to the back room of the home and that he “was afraid for his life at this point.”
He said he shot the property owner in the head and the other in the kitchen, the warrant says. At one point, Hernandez allegedly told deputies, he had gone to his Honda Pilot to reload his gun before going back to each victim and shooting him again.
The sheriff’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the details of the second man’s cause of death.
The warrant states Hernandez admitted that he did not know what to do after the attack, so he “stayed on scene and walked around.” He allegedly added that he knew about the two children at the house and that they saw him shoot the two men.
He added that “he was not going to take the kids or do anything to them,” the warrant says.
New Mexico
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NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – Here is a look at scores and highlights from week 12 of Friday Night Football.
6A
- #10 Cibola – 10
- #7 Volcano Vista – 14
- #9 Piedra Vista – 24
- #8 Los Lunas – 28
Game of the Week
- #12 Eldorado – 7
- #5 La Cueva – 41
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5A
- #9 Mayfield – 22
- #8 Highland – 36
- #10 Valley – 23
- #7 Belen – 50
- #11 Capital – 0
- #6 Gadsden – 50
4A
- #11 Portales – 13
- #6 Moriarty – 49
- #12 Valencia – 0
- #5 Albuquerque Academy – 42
- #9 Manzano – 28
- #8 Bernalillo – 31
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