New Mexico
New Mexicans celebrate Lunar New Year
Thousands of people in New Mexico are celebrating the Lunar New Year as the Year of the Dragon began Saturday.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Thousands of people in New Mexico are celebrating the Lunar New Year as the Year of the Dragon began Saturday.
For 15 days, traditions come alive with cultural performances, such as the dragon dance and martial arts showcases.
The celebrations vary but food and family are what everyone has in common for Lunar New Year.
“It usually involves a bunch of dumplings. Every traditional Chinese household will serve dumplings,” Jason Zeng said, adding dumplings symbolize fortune and prosperity in the coming year.
Zeng is a third-generation restauranteur and the owner of Fan Tang Restaurant. The restaurant has strived to introduce Albuquerque to the spicy flavors of his hometown of Szechuan.
His family is one example of the countless families who have immigrated to New Mexico since the 1800s.
“We all know each other, we all help out each other. If one of the families is in need, traditionally, you know, we will chip in and help out that family,” Zeng said.
Food brings the family together every year. That includes traditional dishes like tang yuan.
“Sweet glutinous rice balls with sesame paste inside. It’s like a dessert for after dinner,” Zeng described.
Families also traditionally make noodles. When eaten, they symbolize a long and healthy life.
“This is spicy beef noodle soup. It’s egg noodles, sliced beef in like a spicy broth. Almost like spicy ramen, but Szechuan.”
The Year of the Dragon is said to bring good luck, prosperity and strength to newborns. It goes through January 28, 2025.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The University of New Mexico plans to build new gates at four campus entrances along Central that will close nightly.
The gates will replace manual barriers in a project expected to cost about $1.5 million.
The Board of Regents approved the security upgrades for the UNM campus.
University officials said the gates will automatically close nightly from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
The gates will go in near Princeton Drive, Stanford Drive, Yale Boulevard and Terrace Street on the south end of campus.
A current rendering shows the gate completely blocking the road. Officials said the change will reduce unauthorized traffic and allow police officers to focus more effectively on prevention and response.
Construction will start in May. University officials hope to finish the project by September.
A 9-year-old boy who begged to be released from an immigration detention center so he could attend his state spelling bee has been freed with his family, their lawyer said Wednesday.
Deiver Henao Jimenez made the plea during a video call this month with children’s entertainer Ms. Rachel, whose real name is Rachel Accurso.
“I don’t want to be here anymore,” Deiver said on the call, which was later shared on Accurso’s social media pages. “Nothing is good here.”
He and his parents, asylum-seekers from Colombia, had been held at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in South Texas since early March, when they were detained during a routine immigration check-in in New Mexico, according to their lawyer, Corey Sullivan Martin.
ICE freed the family on humanitarian parole Wednesday, about a week after Martin filed a request for their release and days after NBC News reported on their case.
His elementary school principal wrote a letter in mid-March supporting the family’s release, which was later delivered to immigration officials, describing Deiver as “a dedicated student with excellent attendance and high marks.”
Sullivan Martin said Deiver is eager to return to school, rejoin his gifted and talented classes and get back to practicing his spelling words.
“I don’t see how it was necessary at all to detain a child who was doing exactly what we want children to do,” Sullivan Martin said.
The family planned to return to New Mexico, she said, where they will continue checking in with immigration officials while their case proceeds.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Deiver was released a day after ICE freed another child whose case drew widespread attention following a video call with Accurso. Gael, a 5-year-old boy with developmental disabilities, had experienced worsening medical issues while he was detained at Dilley, his parents said.
The facility has faced growing scrutiny from immigration lawyers and advocates, who say children there have struggled to access adequate medical care and education in an environment where lights remain on around the clock and officers stand guard. Some families have described poor food and long waits for medical attention.
DHS has disputed those accounts, saying families are provided appropriate care in a facility designed for their needs.
After her video meetings with the children, Accurso — known for her signature pink headband and singsong delivery — called for Dilley to be shut down and for families to be returned to their communities.
During their conversation, Deiver told Accurso he missed his friends and said the food at Dilley made his stomach hurt. But he was most worried about getting out in time to compete in New Mexico’s state spelling bee in May after he earned a spot by placing third at a regional competition.
“We’re trying to get a child out of a jail to do a spelling bee,” Accurso said last week. “I just never thought those words would go together.”
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