New Mexico

N.M. gov. has ignored calls to pull executive order that could hinder speech critical of Israel – Source New Mexico

Published

2 years ago

January 12, 2024

N.M. gov. has ignored calls to pull executive order that could hinder speech critical of Israel – Source New Mexico

New Mexico’s governor has so far ignored calls from her constituents and the state’s most prominent civil rights organization to withdraw a once-obscure executive order that has received renewed interest three months into the War on Gaza.

In 2022, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed an executive order to direct all state agencies under her control to adopt and use the “Working Definition of Antisemitism” written by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.

This week the governor’s office declined to answer questions about Lujan Grisham’s response to a letter asking her to rescind the order, and about how many times the state has enforced it.

“We are clear: discrimination of any kind, including antisemitism, has no place in New Mexico,” said Maddy Hayden, a spokesperson for the governor. “The governor is also a staunch believer in free speech, and we have seen no indication that this order signed in 2022 is being misused in any way.”

In interviews with Source New Mexico, New Mexicans criticized the order as part of a broader attempt to conflate Judaism with Zionism, in order to expand the traditional definition of antisemitism to include criticism of Israel and quash expression in support of Palestinian self-determination.

Dr. Lori Rudolph is a professor of counseling at New Mexico Highlands University studying continuous traumatic stress in the West Bank, and a member of Jewish Voice for Peace.

She said it’s vitally important for Jewish people to counter the claim that criticism of Israel is the same as antisemitism. Lujan Grisham’s executive order is unfortunate, she said, because it undermines the credibility of claims of real antisemitism.

“We have a moral obligation to speak out against genocide, especially in light of our own history of genocide and the historical trauma that we carry,” Rudolph said. “It’s unconscionable to watch Israel committing the same atrocities that were committed against Jews in Europe, for example.”

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After Lujan Grisham signed the order two years ago, Rudolph joined civil rights attorney and author Jeff Haas, along with others affiliated with Jewish Voice for Peace, to gather signatures for a petition calling the governor to withdraw it.

For a couple of months that year, Haas said, the group tried to meet with the governor, but it did not happen.

Then in September 2023, a pro-Israel advocacy group in Santa Fe tried to get Lujan Grisham to enforce the order against Palestinian poet and journalist Mohammed El-Kurd to try to prevent him from speaking at the University of New Mexico.

In response, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico urged Lujan Grisham to rescind the order, arguing in a letter on Nov. 14 that it violates the state’s constitution.

ACLU-NM Executive Director Peter Simonson and attorney Kristin Greer Love told the governor her order “threatens freedom of speech,” which “applies to and protects everyone in our state — not just those with whom we agree.”

“We are deeply concerned that it could be used as the basis for silencing protected speech, and indeed have begun to see signs in New Mexico that our fears could be realized,” they wrote, citing the effort to silence El-Kurd. “We urge you to rescind this dangerous and unnecessary order.”

They wrote Lujan Grisham’s administration has legal tools to protect Jewish people in New Mexico and combat antisemitic harassment and discrimination, “But make no mistake: adopting the IHRA’s ‘working definition of antisemitism’ through an executive order is not among them.”

Maria Archuleta, a spokesperson for ACLU-NM, confirmed Wednesday the governor has not responded to the letter.

The ‘working definition’

The IHRA “Working Definition of Antisemitism” has been criticized by Israeli Jewish academics and lawyers defending the movement for Palestinian rights in the United States. The executive order adopts the definition by linking to a website but does not spell it out word-for-word.

Lujan Grisham’s order states the IHRA definition “has been an essential tool used to determine contemporary manifestations of antisemitism, and includes useful examples of discriminatory anti-Israel acts that can cross the line into antisemitism.”

Most notably, the IHRA definition asserts that “claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor” is an example of “denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination.”

This is immensely dangerous, because it means you can’t call Israel racist, says Dr. Fatima Van Hattum, a former member of the central committee of Lujan Grisham’s Council on Racial Justice and a member of the Muslim community in New Mexico.

“It means that any true historical recounting and examination of the Nakba — the 1948 ethnic cleansing of Palestine — would be considered antisemitic,” Van Hattum said. “It means that any critique over half a century of Israeli occupation would be considered antisemitic. It means that any future solutions — like potentially one democratic, secular state in critique of an exclusively Jewish ethno-religious state — would also be considered antisemitic.”

In their letter to the governor, ACLU-NM wrote the order’s adopted definition is “unconstitutionally vague, classifying certain (unspecified) criticisms of Israel as antisemitic, leaving New Mexicans with uncertainty about whether their speech or expression could violate the law.”

The IHRA definition “does not allow for nuanced political debate and expression that are critical for a functioning democracy: it lumps in criticism of the government of Israel — and support for Palestinians’ rights — with the scourge of true antisemitism,” ACLU-NM wrote.

In doing so, the definition “impermissibly threatens to chill speech,” they wrote.

“Protected speech and expression include non-violent protest, activism, criticism of Israel and support (for) Palestinians’ rights,” the ACLU wrote. “One can criticize the government of Israel and support Palestinians rights without being antisemitic, just as one can criticize the Palestinian Authority or the governments of other Muslim-majority countries without being anti-Muslim.”

In her statement expressing the governor’s stance, Hayden added that “New Mexico stands alongside the Biden Administration and the majority of other states in adopting this stance against antisemitism.”

Van Hattum, who has a Ph.D in educational thought and sociocultural studies, said the order comes amid a push by the right wing in the U.S. for deeply restrictive policies preventing the proper teaching of slavery, Black history or colonization.

By endorsing the IHRA definition, both Lujan Grisham and Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives are limiting people’s “ability to factually recount the history of the Israeli occupation of Palestine,” Van Hattum said.

“It’s not only a First Amendment violation, but it’s very dangerous to our democracy in the same way these right-wing attacks on curricular materials and books are dangerous in the long term,” she said. “It means our country is becoming more and more fascist. That is not a small thing.”

From a perspective of racial justice in the U.S., Van Hattum said, “Israel, as a settler colony like the U.S., is built on violent dispossession.” She compared racism in a settler colony like the U.S. or Australia to an individual living with a chronic disease.

“If there is ever a future that isn’t just blatant occupation and genocide, and a political outcome where people can actually live together, this will still be the case,” Van Hattum said. “What this definition does is it denies us the ability to even engage in that discussion intellectually.”

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New Mexico

New award honors two New Mexico women who dedicated lives to agriculture

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11 hours ago

January 11, 2026

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New award honors two New Mexico women who dedicated lives to agriculture

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New Mexico

Actor Timothy Busfield accused of child sex abuse in New Mexico

Published

23 hours ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

Actor Timothy Busfield accused of child sex abuse in New Mexico

Authorities in New Mexico issued an arrest warrant Friday for director and Emmy Award-winning actor Timothy Busfield to face a child sex abuse charge.

An investigator with the Albuquerque Police Department filed a criminal complaint in support of the charge, which says a child reported that Busfield touched him inappropriately. The acts allegedly occurred on the set of “The Cleaning Lady,” a TV series Busfield directed and acted in.

The child said the first incident happened when he was 7 years old and Busfield touched him three or four times. Busfield allegedly touched him five or six times on another occasion when he was 8.

The child’s mother reported to Child Protective Services that the abuse occurred between November 2022 and spring 2024, the complaint said.

Busfield’s attorney and agent did not immediately respond to email messages seeking comment late Friday.

The arrest warrant, which was signed by a judge, said the charge is for two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor.

According to the complaint, the child, which it identifies only by his initials, has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety. A social worker documented him saying he has had nightmares about Busfield touching him and woken up scared.

The child was reportedly afraid to tell anyone because Busfield was the director and he feared he would get mad at him.

The investigation began in November 2024, when the investigator responded to a call from a doctor at the University of New Mexico Hospital. The child’s parents had gone there at the recommendation of a law firm, the complaint said.

“The Cleaning Lady” aired for four seasons on Fox, ending in 2025. It starred Elodie Yung as a Cambodian doctor who comes to the United States to get medical treatment for her son, witnesses a mob killing and ends up becoming a cleaner for organized crime.

The show was produced by Warner Bros., which according to the complaint conducted its own investigation into the abuse allegations but was unable to corroborate them.

Busfield is known for appearances in “The West Wing,” “Field of Dreams” and “Thirtysomething,” the latter of which won him an Emmy for outstanding supporting actor in a drama series in 1991.

He is married to actor Melissa Gilbert; there was no immediate response to an email sent to her publicist.

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New Mexico

Timothy Busfield Charged With Child Sex Abuse On ‘The Cleaning Lady’s New Mexico Set; WBTV Will “Cooperate With Law Enforcement”

Published

1 day ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

Timothy Busfield Charged With Child Sex Abuse On ‘The Cleaning Lady’s New Mexico Set; WBTV Will “Cooperate With Law Enforcement”

A 10-year-old New Mexico boy says Timothy Busfield “touched his ‘poop’ and ‘pee’ area” during production on The Cleaning Lady, an Albuquerque District Attorney–approved arrest warrant issued today says.

“In my training and experience, pedophiles often infiltrate families under a trusted role, like Timothy, who, as a producer, exploited the hectic film sets to tickle and touch SL on his penis and buttocks, masking it as play,” the warrant from Albuquerque Police Officer Marvin Brown asserts. “He would invite the family to off-set gatherings, with his wife buying Christmas gifts to foster closeness, making SL feel special and dependent—classic grooming to erode boundaries, isolate the victim, and silence suspicions by blending abuse into normalcy.”

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Filled with accounts from two brothers of their alleged repeated experiences with the Thirtysomething alum, who was a director on the now shuttered Élodie Yung-led Fox drama from Warner Bros TV, the document charges Busfield with two counts of criminal sexual contact with a minor and child abuse. It is unclear at this point if the Emmy winner has been arrested and booked by Albuquerque Police Department.

If found guilty of the charges, Busfield could face a minimum of three years behind bars.

In fact, the 68-year-old, who was accused but never charged in two previous sexual assault allegations in 1994 and 2012, could be looking at a lot longer sentence in the Land of Enchantment.

Under New Mexico statutes, prison time in sex crimes against minors leans heavily on context and circumstances in the degrees of punishment they hand out. That time and felony class can go up substantially if the crime involves children under 13 years of age — as it allegedly does here.

Named as “SL” and “VL” in the warrant, the two 2014-born boys appeared on The Cleaning Lady over multiple seasons before being let go for having aged out of the role, I hear. However, in a Nov. 3, 2025 phone interview with Busfield in the warrant, The West Wing vet told investigating Officer Brown that he “the lead actress, Elodie Young” informed him over a year ago that “the mother of SL and VL (sic) that she wanted revenge, and I’m going to get my revenge on Tim Busfield for not bringing her kids back for the final season.”

Courtesy of Fox

In interviews conducted with SL and VL on Halloween last year by a “forensic child interviewer,” and observed by Officer Brown, today’s arrest warrant says that the former told them the alleged abuse by Busfield started when he was 7 years old and on The Cleaning Lady.

“SL said that Tim touched him three to four times on his ‘poop’ and ‘pee’ area over his clothing,” the 12-page arrest warrant states of what is cited as a second incident with Busfield, very similar to a previous incident. “SL said he was very afraid of Tim and was relieved when he was off set. SL said he was afraid to tell anyone because Tim was the director, and he feared Tim would get mad at him. SL did advise that Tim touched him while he was only on set filming in Albuquerque.”

SL now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety, the warrant says. SL disclosing having nightmares about the director touching him and waking up scared,” the document adds.

It goes on: “VL explained that Mr. Tim started touching them for the first two years, and he did not want to say anything, because he did not want to be mean to him. Therefore, VL did not say anything. VL said Mr. Tim would start touching him with his hands about his body while they were filming in the ‘house’. VL advised that it was about his body, but did not disclose that he was touched on his buttocks or penis area. VL said he did not like being touched, but did not say anything because he did not want to get in trouble.”

The matter actually first came to the cops’ attention in late 2024 when a doctor from University of New Mexico Hospital contacted the Albuquerque Police Department in regards to a “sexual abuse investigation.”

Noting that the boys’ father had been advised to go to the hospital by a local law firm, today’s warrant details: Officer Osborn talked with both VL and SL, who did not disclose any sexual contact at this time. However, both boys advised that Timothy Busfield, whom they referred to as ‘Uncle Tim’, would tickle them on the stomach and legs. Neither boy cared for the tickling. Officer Osborn contacted Detective Michael Brown with the Crimes Against Children Unit and determined that the case did not meet their acceptance criteria at this time.”

The matter came back to the police’s attention and became a much greater priority after the boys’ mother “advised that on 09/02/2025, SL reported to his counselor that Timothy Busfield touched his penis and bottom.”

In that same telephone conversation with Busfield in the weeks before Thanksgiving last year, the NYC-based filmmaker also dropped to Officer Brown that producers Warner Bros TV had conducted its own probe into allegations against him after SAG-AFTRA received an anonymous complaint in early 2025 of an incident on The Cleaning Lady set in December 2024. After writing up a search warrant for WB (which today’s warrant seems to mistakenly say occurred on “10/03/2025”) and several correspondences with WB attorney Richard Wessling at law firm Proskauer, Officer Brown on NYE last year got his hands on the March 31, 2025 external report put together by the LA office of Solomon Law.

Specifically the report, which saw Busfield suspended during the probe, looked into claims from the hotline caller that there was evidence of Busfield “tickling and caressing the head and body of minor boys” while working on the Albuquerque-filmed Cleaning Lady. Upon his own reading of the document, Officer Brown says in Friday’s warrant that Solomon investigator “Christina McGovern was not able to talk with anyone who would support evidence that Timothy Busfield engaged in this behavior.”

Working from what now seems to be limited accusations, the WBTV investigation viewed Busfield as “exonerated,” sources tell me.

In a statement to Deadline tonight, the Channing Dungey-led WBTV said: “The health and safety of our cast and crew is always our top priority, especially the safety of minors on our productions. We take all allegations of misconduct very seriously and have systems in place to promptly and thoroughly investigate, and when needed, take appropriate action. We are aware of the current charges against Mr. Busfield and have been and will continue to cooperate with law enforcement.”

As well as speaking to the boys’ mother and father (who seem to have instigated and then ceased a civil suit on this), plus some Cleaning Lady production assistants and Make-up and Hair department staffers, today’s warrant also details a brief back-and-forth between Officer Brown and the series star Yung, who was a producer too.

“On 11/5/2025, I contacted Elodie Yung to set up an interview. Elodie agreed to meet with me at the Northwest Substation on 11/7/2025,” Officer Brown notes in his fairly comprehensive affidavit that e Albuquerque Assistant DA Savannah Brandenburg-Koch signed off on today. “I did initially advise Elodie that Tim Busfield gave me her name and said that she may have information about this case. On 11/06/2025, Elodie left me a voicemail declining to speak with me and said that she does not want to be involved with the investigation and that she would not have any information that could assist in this case.”

Busfield’s agents at Innovative Artists did not respond late Friday to Deadline’s request for comment on the arrest warrant and the charges against their client.

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