NM Voices in the News
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SCOTUS DACA decision will help 5,800 New Mexico DACA recipients
NM Political Report--Trump sought to end the program by questioning whether former President Barack Obama had overstepped his authority by creating the program through executive order. James Jimenez, executive director of New Mexico Voices for Children, called Trump’s efforts ironic. “The irony is that the Trump administration never misses an opportunity to claim no limits to what the president can do,” Jimenez said.
NM delegation, advocates hail court’s DACA ruling
Albuquerque Journal--“The fight to end this program that has allowed me to make my dreams come true is rooted in racism and xenophobia.” She urged lawmakers to come up with a permanent solution. And James Jimenez, executive director of New Mexico Voices for Children, said DACA “is not a path to citizenship, and making it one must be our goal moving forward.”
Is push for education equity at risk amid COVID-19 economic fallout?
New Mexico In Depth--“There is a real inconsistency in promoting the (Council on Racial Justice) on the one hand and trying to have the lawsuit dismissed on the other,” said James Jimenez, executive director of New Mexico Voices for Children. “The lawsuit is about racial equity.”
BLM: Oil and gas land leases postponed in May amid COVID-19 back on auction block for August
Carlsbad Current Argus--“Moving forward with oil and gas lease sales in the middle of this pandemic--when the oil market is crashing, and communities are focused on the health and safety of their loved ones — is misguided, dangerous, and just flat wrong,” Jimenez said.
Social sea change only comes when demanded
Rio Rancho Observer--Like all great social upheaval, change will not occur until it is demanded. Those in power must see that fundamental reform is the only way they can keep their power and that, if they resist, they will be replaced. That means getting angry and channeling the anger constructively. It means taking to the streets and protesting peacefully. And most of all, it means voting. Voting for candidates who are committed to dismantling structural racism in all our institutions.
New Mexico Senate leaders lose primary bid amid liberal push
Associated Press--“Big power shifts like this don’t happen very often, and when they do, they can result in significant changes in the priorities of a legislative body,” said James Jimenez, executive director of New Mexico Voices for Children, an advocacy group for improving childhood well-being.
Pandemic shows kids need their scheduled vaccines
Albuquerque Journal--Fear of COVID-19 has prompted parents to cancel well-child visits nationwide, putting millions of children at risk for whooping cough, measles and other life-threatening illnesses. But non-COVID-19 medical needs haven’t gone away, and it is just as essential to prevent other vaccine-preventable diseases like polio and meningitis as it is to develop a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine.
Local immigrants left out of stimulus, unemployment benefits
Las Cruces Sun-News--NM Voices contends the lack of financial assistance immigrants will receive during the COVID-19 crisis will lead to a loss in economic activity in areas of the state with higher immigrant populations, exacerbating a growing economic crisis in those areas. The report lists ways immigrants are under-served during an emergency like a pandemic.
Immigrants left out
NM Political Report--NM Voices for Children and other nonprofit organizations issued a report Thursday highlighting the contributions immigrants make to society to point out the inequity of refusing relief to a group who pays state, federal and local taxes. According to the report, both documented and undocumented immigrants pay more than $996 million annually in federal, state and local taxes.
Report says New Mexico is prepared for a recession — in some ways
Albuquerque Business First--"It is especially important that New Mexico is relatively well-prepared to weather a recession because we will be harder hit than other states by lower oil and gas prices due to our over-reliance on that industry as a revenue source,” James Jimenez, executive director of New Mexico Voices for Children, said in a statement.