LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
OPINION: Talk of the Town
Correcting the record on Bernalillo County GOP
Too bad Douglas Michel didn鈥檛 call and ask Republican Party of Bernalillo County about his discoveries on the Campaign Finance Information System before his diatribe about how, 鈥淭he Republican Party of Bernalillo County is broken.鈥� If he had, The Journal would have saved valuable space for a more factual article.
To fill in the gaps:
Thanks to fundraising efforts by RPBC, the RPBC Executive Committee met on March 27 and voted to give all of the Bernalillo qualified candidates, including write-ins, $500 to be paid by check.
On March 31, RPBC began contacting all candidates. Our notice stated: 鈥淗i (candidate name),鈥� We have a check for your campaign. Please call and let us know how to get it to you. Thanks for running!鈥� The confirmation of the name on the check and address was important.
Some candidates elected to come in and pick up the check. That explains why some got it sooner and some may not have cashed it yet.
The claim about a candidate who is 鈥渙utside Bernalillo County鈥� refers to Adam Prior, a write-in candidate in House District 44. By looking up District 44, which is in Sandoval as well, on NMLegis.gov, you can find the list of precincts. The precincts for Bernalillo County have a 鈥淏E鈥� for Bernalillo County. There are five precincts.
Perhaps, an apology to Bob Godshall is due.
Please contact us, Doug, if you have any questions or need assistance.
Daphne Orner
Republican Party of Bernalillo County chair
Coverage shined light on modern-day internment camps
Kudos to the Journal to shed light on, 鈥淎 look into life in federal immigration in New Mexico鈥� (April 19 Sunday Journal), detailing claims of poor medical care, insufficient water, unsanitary conditions, spoiled food, demeaning guard behavior and detentions without accusations of any criminal offense. Are New Mexicans willing to turn a blind eye to the 2026 version of the 1940鈥檚 internment camps for Japanese-Americans?
Regardless of political persuasion, we agree serious violent noncitizens be deported. Has the Journal or the White House determined how many such deportations there would be? That could inform the extent of required detention centers. The Customs and Border Protection website for noncitizen crime shows only 23 murders for fiscal year 2025 and 214 total over the prior eight years. .
The cruelty-industrial complex is ripe for profiteers: One new 1,000-bed detention center in New Jersey last year cost about $1 billion, exclusive of ongoing operating costs. If private detention centers are being paid at least $150 a day per detainee, it should come as no surprise the Trump administration targeted a million detainees a year (about 3,000 arrests daily), jettisoning due process.
The Immigrant Safety Act (House Bill 9) banned local governments from contracting with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Legislature approved close to $12 million to act as a "two-year bridge" for Cibola, Otero and Torrance counties to assist economically.
We can do better than to resurrect the equivalent of internment camps.
Michael Baron
Corrales
America must vet immigrants
There is little doubt that the illegal inmates in the Torrance County Detention Facility are not happy with their living conditions. After all, coming to America had promises of glamour and riches. The truth again needs mentioned: They are there as criminals, crossing our border without proper documentation.
As touching as their stories might be, the law is the law. If pro-immigrant groups do not like the law, they should push for changes. Our immigration system is broken because politicians Band-Aid it to please special interests rather than doing a complete overhaul.
America, as a sovereign nation, has the obligation to make sure that immigrants are vetted properly and will contribute to our economy rather then placing a drain on it. We must protect the rights of our citizens first and then make it proper and feasible for others to join our nation.
Gary Hays
Bernalillo
Alice the elephant should be sent to a sanctuary
I teach physical geography and environmental science for Central New Mexico Community College and a college in California. I teach about the current mass extinction in progress at the hands or our species. I was sickened to learn of the lifelong captivity of Alice the elephant, one of the most magnificent species on this planet, one that is under threat in both Africa and India.
Her intelligence and autonomy should never have been questioned. Yet an escape from the ABQ zoo shines a light on the cruelty of keeping her in such an unnatural place near the end of her life.
I shall now start working on the campaign to send her to a sanctuary to live out the rest of her life in some semblance of dignity and communal happiness. I deeply hope the ABQ BioPark Zoo directors and supposedly compassionate mayor of our community will finally see this injustice and work to bring it to an end. There are many other animals at the zoo that should be in a much larger, much more natural environment. Please evolve.
Don Helfrich
Albuquerque
Working together, not ranting, will solve NM problems
I am writing in response to the local column by David Gallegos in the April 18 Journal. His bio states his past employment was in the natural gas industry, which makes sense given his rant about New Mexico politics.
While New Mexico has many hurdles to overcome, I did not read anything of value in Gallegos鈥� opinion but fear-mongering and name-calling, Promoting New Mexico鈥檚 reliance on oil and gas while calling Democrats radical leftists, straight out of Donald Tump鈥檚 playbook, does nothing to improve the lives of New Mexicans.
Voting 鈥渞ed鈥� is not going to work either. Working together 鈥� Democrats, Republicans and independents 鈥� to find solutions to the problems that Mr. Gallegos complains about is the only way forward for all New Mexicans.
Chris Neef
Rio Rancho
Library system needs recurring IT funding
What do you think of when you think of the library? Books, right? What about computers? Every library branch in Albuquerque has computers for patrons to use for free, to help apply for jobs, research for school and even for entertainment. Our libraries also provide free Wi-Fi that鈥檚 available in the building and even in the parking lot when the branch is closed.
But what about the information technology that runs the entire library system? I鈥檓 talking about the catalog of all the books, DVDs, e-books and other items the library lends out 鈥� even the unusual items like cake pans and ukuleles. There鈥檚 a huge database that keeps track of everything in the library 鈥� every patron鈥檚 library card, which items are checked out, and which items get sent from branch to branch for patrons to pick up from the most convenient location. That infrastructure has to come from somewhere.
The fiscal year 2027 budget submitted by the Mayor鈥檚 Office includes no recurring funding for information technology for the library. That means no fixing broken computers, no library cards and no checking out books. The library must have all those things in order to function.
I urge you to call or email your city councilor and tell them you support an annual recurring budget of $500,000 for IT funding for the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Library. It鈥檚 time to take care of our library鈥檚 backbone, so the staff can take care of the library patrons.
Nicole Finch
Albuquerque
