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Latest New Mexico news, sports, business and entertainment at 11:20 a.m. MDT

  • TRUMP-IMMIGRATION

Trump threatens to deport millions beginning next weekWASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is threatening to remove millions of people in the country illegally.
In a late-night tweet Monday, Trump says U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will begin the removal process next week. He tells his Twitter followers, "They will be removed as fast as they come in."
An administration official says the effort will focus on people who have been issued final deportation orders by federal judges but remain at large in the country.
Trump has threatened a series of increasingly drastic actions as he tries to stem the flow of Central American migrants crossing the southern border, which has risen dramatically on his watch.
Immigration is expected to be a central issue of Trump's 2020 reelection campaign, which officially launches Tuesday.

  • ALBUQUERQUE POLICE-HIRING

Albuquerque Police Department roster nears 1,000 officers(Information from: Albuquerque Journal, http://www.abqjournal.com)
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Albuquerque police are expected to number nearly 1,000 in the next few months after the department added 116 officers over the past year.
The Albuquerque Journal reported Monday that about two-thirds of the new officers are already on duty, and the rest are expected to be on the streets by the end of the summer.
City officials have been working to boost staffing after the department's roster dropped to 821 officers in 2016. It had 983 officers in 2013.
The department is budgeted for 1,053 officers in the next fiscal year.
Albuquerque Deputy Police Chief Harold Medina says most of the new officers have been hired from other agencies, including the Santa Fe Police Department, the Rio Rancho Police Department and the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office.
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  • JAIL GUARD-INMATE-SEX

Ex-New Mexico jail guard accused of sex with inmate(Information from: Hobbs News-Sun, http://www.hobbsnews.com)
HOBBS, N.M. (AP) — A former corrections officer in southeastern New Mexico is facing charges after authorities say she had sex with an inmate.
The Hobbs News-Sun reports Amelia Alvarado was arrested Thursday and charged with criminal sexual penetration following a statement by a male inmate at the Lea County Detention Center.
According to a criminal complaint, the inmate said he impregnated Alvarado while in the Lea County jail, resulting in a baby girl. He reported he had had sex with Alvarado three times at the jail while she worked as a Lea County corrections officer.
Police said the relationship between Alvarado and the inmate continued long after he was moved from the Lea County Detention Center to Otero County to Santa Fe correctional facilities.
It was not known if Alvarado had an attorney.
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  • LULAC-STATE DIRECTOR

Latino group names new director for New Mexico chapterALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The head of development and external affairs at New Mexico State University Alamogordo has been named state director of the New Mexico League of United Latin American Citizens.
The university announced Juan Garcia's selection Monday.
Garcia says he began working with LULAC two decades ago after the organization awarded him a scholarship that allowed him to buy books and pay tuition.
Since then, he has served as a president of local councils, national vice president for young adults and a district director in New Mexico.
In his new position, he will work to advance the educational opportunities for Latinos in New Mexico. He says he'll be looking to create new programs and scholarships.
Founded in 1929, LULAC is the oldest Hispanic civil rights group in the U.S.

  • ETHICS COMMISSION-NEW MEXICO

Governor appoints former judge to state Ethic CommissionSANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A professional mediator in civil and commercial court cases has been named to serve on New Mexico's fledgling state Ethics Commission.
Former state district court judge William Lang was appointed Tuesday by New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to serve on the commission when it convenes next year to consider ethics complaints against public officials, lobbyists and public contractors.
Voters overwhelmingly approved the creation of the commission in 2018 elections in the wake of a series of high profile corruption scandals involving public officials.
Criminal matters will continue to fall under the authority of state and local prosecutors.
Four members of the commission are appointed by leading state legislators from the Republican and Democratic parties.

  • TRUMP-NATIONAL MONUMENTS

GAO to probe Interior moves on lands cut from Utah monumentSALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A government watchdog will investigate whether the U.S. Interior Department broke the law by making plans to open up lands cut from a Utah national monument by President Trump to leasing for oil, gas and coal development.
U.S. Sen. Tom Udall of New Mexico said Monday in a news release that the Government Accountability Office informed his office last week that it has agreed to his request that it look into whether the Interior violated the appropriations law by using funds to assess potential resource extraction in the lands cut from the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
GAO spokesman Charles Young confirmed the inquiry. The Interior Department didn't immediately return an email seeking comment.
Udall is the ranking member of Senate's subcommittee for the Interior Department.
President Bill Clinton created the monument in 1996. Trump downsized it by nearly half in 2017.

  • CHILDHOOD WELL-BEING

Report: Childhood poverty persists in fast-growing SouthwestSANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A report on childhood well-being shows improved overall chances for U.S. children to thrive based on broad measures of economic circumstances, education and community support.
Released Monday, the annual Kids Count report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation also finds that the number of children living in poverty has swelled over the past three decades in fast-growing, ethnically diverse states such as Texas, Arizona and Nevada as the nation's population center shifts south and west.
About 18% of the nation's children live in poverty, down from 22% in 2010 during the Great recession.
Since 1990, however, the national rate of childhood poverty has remained unchanged as the number of impoverished children swelled border and Southwest states.

  • CLERGY ABUSE-NEW MEXICO

Deadline arrives for clergy abuse claims in New MexicoALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Monday marks the deadline for filing sexual abuse claims as New Mexico's largest Roman Catholic diocese wades through bankruptcy proceedings.
Lawyers for the hundreds of people who will be submitting forms are hopeful the proceedings will shed more light on the decades-old scandal that shaken the church.
The Archdiocese of Santa Fe filed for bankruptcy in 2018, with Archbishop John Wester saying it was the equitable thing to do as church reserves dwindled. The archdiocese has said $52 million in insurance money and its own funds have gone to settling 300 claims over the years.
Officials expect to make public this week the total number of claims filed as part of the bankruptcy case.
Wester on Friday issued a request for prayers, acknowledging the need for emotional and spiritual healing.