America is in the grip of a crime crisis. One of the hardest hit states is New Mexico. We have the second-highest rate of violent crime of any state. There are 778 violent crimes per 100,000 residents.
In 2021, 12 major U.S. cities, including Albuquerque, broke annual homicide records. Recently in Albuquerque there were at least 14 homicide investigations in the month of August, which marks a total of over 100 so far this year, already outpacing last year’s record-setting number.
There is a direct correlation between the choices that some politicians have made and the rise in crime. Politicians who seek to defund the police and treat municipal budgets like a form of college campus activism fail to understand that their actions have real consequences and harm American families. Elected officials in cities like Las Cruces claim the need to defund or dismantle the police. This is misguided and harms those residents.
I am proud to have pushed the Department of Justice to end its consent decree with the Albuquerque Police Department, which hamstrung the city’s police, burying them in Washington’s red tape and putting hard-working New Mexican families in danger. Ending this consent decree finally allows our police officers to protect and serve our communities during a national crime wave.
Victims of crime should be protected rather than ignored. It feels as though many politicians today are less interested in victims of crimes than they are in protecting criminals.
This must change in Congress. I will continue to work on the behalf of victims of crime to ensure that police are fully funded, victims’ rights are respected, and victim advocacy offices are maintained in order to ensure that justice is done, and violent criminals remain behind bars.
In Congress, I support hiring 200,000 more police officers across the country through recruiting and retention bonuses. I oppose all efforts to defund the police. I will push to permanently criminalize all forms of illicit fentanyl and crack down on smugglers and dealers. Finally, I will continue to push elected officials, including prosecutors and district attorneys, to do their jobs and prosecute anyone who breaks the law and harms New Mexico’s families.
Sincerely,
