According to a Fox News report, New Mexico’s Democratic governor on Wednesday declared a state of emergency over rampant violence and drug trafficking in a large swath of the state.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham issued the declaration in crime-ridden Rio Arriba County, home to two Native American pueblo communities and long plagued by some of the nation’s highest opioid overdose death rates.
Grisham said local leaders had pleaded for help and that public safety threats have “overwhelmed local resources.”
“When our local leaders called for help to protect their communities, we responded immediately with decisive action,” Grisham said in a statement. “We are making every resource available to support our local partners on the ground and restore public safety and stability to these areas that have been hardest hit by this crisis.”
From Fox News:
The emergency declaration makes $750,000 available to the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management to coordinate response efforts and provide resources to the communities impacted.
Grisham said a surge in criminal activity has contributed to increased homelessness, family instability and fatal drug overdoses, placing extraordinary strain on local governments and police departments that have requested immediate state assistance.
She said police calls in Española and surrounding areas have more than doubled in the past two years. Police dispatches to businesses in the area have quadrupled in the same period.
Rio Arriba County currently has the highest overdose death rate in the state, with residents struggling with addiction to fentanyl and other illicit substances.
There were no immediate calls for troop deployments, though the declaration allows authorities to activate the National Guard. Emergency funds will help local law enforcement cover overtime, purchase equipment, and coordinate police responses, a Grisham spokesperson said.
The tribal governor of Santa Clara Pueblo on the edge of Española urged the state to address a growing public safety crisis stemming from the use and abuse of fentanyl and alcohol in the community at large.
“The pueblo has expended thousands of dollars trying to address this crisis… and to protect pueblo children who are directly and negatively affected by a parent’s or guardian’s addiction,” said Santa Clara Gov. James Naranjo in a July letter to Lujan Grisham. “But we are not an isolated community and the causes and effects of fentanyl/alcohol abuse, increased crime and increased homelessness extend to the wider community.”
More over at Fox News:
Democratic governor declares state of emergency in crime-ridden county https://t.co/TTAmvgqbmW
— Fox News (@FoxNews) August 14, 2025
