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Immigration See other Immigration Articles Title: New Mexico Governor Declares Border Emergency To Free Up Funds New Mexico Governor Declares Border Emergency To Free Up Funds ASSOCIATED PRESS COLUMBUS, N.M. (AP) -- Gov. Bill Richardson on Friday declared an emergency in four New Mexico counties along the border, an action that lets him free up money to be spent on everything from fighting drug smuggling to fencing a livestock yard. The executive order, issued after Richardson toured the area around Columbus, makes $750,000 immediately available to Dona Ana, Luna, Grant and Hidalgo counties. He pledged an additional $1 million. The money will aid state and area law enforcement efforts, fund a field office for the state Office of Homeland Security and help build a fence to protect a Columbus-area livestock yard where a number of cattle have been killed or stolen. Richardson's declaration said law enforcement officials have used all available resources to help with border security. But those efforts haven't alleviated the situation, which he said ''constitutes an emergency condition with potentially catastrophic consequences.'' ''Recent developments have convinced me this action is necessary - including violence directed at law enforcement, damage to property and livestock, increased evidence of drug smuggling and an increase in the number of undocumented immigrants,'' he said. He also ordered the New Mexico Department of Agriculture to work with the state Livestock Board to assess the safety of livestock in the region. The funds include nearly $50,000 for an 11-foot, razor wire-topped security fence around the stockyards. It will replace a shorter, barbed-wire fence that Richardson said ''is so full of holes and gaps that trucks and people can cross with no control.'' The new fence will help prevent cattle from Mexico straying across the border, officials said. ''We don't want contagious diseases to contaminate our food supply and disrupt our agricultural economy,'' Richardson said in a statement before his trip. Daniel Manzanares, executive director of the Livestock Board, said at least 100 cattle from Mexico have been found in the area. The agency hasn't traced any outbreaks of disease to Mexican cattle, but Manzanares said he suspects some have carried bovine tuberculosis into New Mexico. The current state of the stockyard fence means people have been able to illegally enter the country as well. ''We definitely have concerns about biosecurity and agroterrorism,'' said Tim Manning, New Mexico's homeland security adviser. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 3.
#3. To: Grumble Jones (#0)
Apparently Richardson is going to be on Lou Dobbs: New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson joins us to talk about his new initiatives to secure the border with Mexico and to curtail illegal immigration into the United States. Declares state of emergency.
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