New Mexico’s Crime Crisis Exposes the Failure of Leadership and Federal Overreach

New Mexico’s Rio Arriba County, a region already grappling with the devastating effects of opioid addiction and violent crime, has once again been thrust into crisis with Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham declaring a state of emergency. The initiative allocates $750,000 to address an alarming surge in criminal activity stretching from Española to the Colorado border—areas that include Native American pueblos struggling under the weight of fentanyl abuse and rising homelessness. But this latest declaration is less about fresh solutions and more about exposing longstanding government failures. For years, local authorities and tribal leaders have voiced urgent calls for help as...