- ELECTION 2020-TRUMP-NEW MEXICO
RIO RANCHO, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico law enforcement agencies are prepping for an upcoming President Donald Trump rally three years after previous ones sparked turmoil in Albuquerque.Police say they will be prepared Monday for the Trump event in the Albuquerque suburb of Rio Rancho as protesters vow to step up acts of civil disobedience and demonstrations.
Police say several law enforcement agencies will help with security at the Santa Ana Star Center.
Demonstrators who participated in previous New Mexico Trump protests say they have discussed blocking traffic and lying down on highways to halt the scheduled appearance. Activist Javier Benavidez says he's insulted that Trump is visiting the state with the highest percentage of Hispanics on Sept. 16 — Mexican Independence Day.
Trump is making his first visit to New Mexico as president.
- FOSTER MOTHER-ABUSE SENTENCE
FARMINGTON, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico woman has been sentenced to 18 years in prison after being convicted of multiple felony charges including child abuse.The Farmington Daily Times reported Wednesday that 55-year-old former foster mother Hope Graciano was convicted Tuesday after pleading no contest to one count of attempted child abuse, two counts of child abuse and one count of witness intimidation.
The Farmington Police Department launched an investigation in 2017 after Graciano brought a then-11-year-old boy she was caring for to a hospital for treatment.
Authorities say the boy told police Graciano beat him with a bed frame piece causing two black eyes and several bruises.
Graciano was a licensed foster mother through a recently closed foster care and adoption center in Albuquerque.
Graciano's attorney declined to comment on the hearing.
- IMMIGRATION-ASYLUM SEEKERS-THE LATEST
WASHINGTON (AP) — Trump administration officials say they have started to implement a new policy that effectively denies asylum to most migrants at the Southern border, in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling on the policy.A spokeswoman for the Homeland Security agency that conducts asylum interviews says the policy will be retroactive to July 16, when the initial rule was announced.
The new rules deny asylum to anyone coming to the U.S.-Mexico border who has not already sought the protection first in another country.
Advocates had sued and the policy was on hold, but the Supreme Court ruled Wednesday it could be implemented while the challenge is heard.
Most asylum seekers pass an initial screening called a "credible fear" interview. Under the new policy, they would fail the test unless they sought asylum in at least one country they traveled through and were denied
- UNPAID WAGES-NEW MEXICO
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — State and local labor officials are targeting a New Mexico restaurant over allegations that it withheld wages from workers.The New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions, District Attorney Raul Torrez and the city of Albuquerque are suing Hacienda Del Rio and its owners, saying the business violated state wage statutes and city ordinances.
New Mexico Labor Secretary Bill McCamley says his agency has been working to educate employers about wage laws but some businesses have neglected to settle claims or respond to investigative inquiries related to underpayment or nonpayment of wages.
The case against Hacienda Del Rio stems from dozens of complaints made over the past two years. In a previous lawsuit, a district judge found the business was liable for thousands of dollars in back wages owed to four former workers.
- VAPING-FLAVOR BANS
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Efforts to ban flavored e-cigarettes and reduce their appeal to youngsters have sputtered under industry pressure in over a half-dozen states this year.That has come even as one state, Michigan, moves ahead with its own restrictions and President Donald Trump promises federal ones.
The industry and its lobbyists urged lawmakers, at least, to leave the popular mint and menthol flavors alone.
But public health experts say that all flavors should be banned.
The proposal Trump outlined Wednesday would supersede any state inaction and includes a ban on mint and menthol.
Industry giant Juul Labs Inc. now says "we will fully comply with the final FDA policy when effective."
- SUPREME COURT-IMMIGRATION-ASYLUM
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is allowing nationwide enforcement of a new Trump administration rule that prevents most Central American immigrants from seeking asylum in the United States.The justices' order late Wednesday temporarily undoes a lower-court ruling that had blocked the new asylum policy in some states along the southern border. The policy is meant to deny asylum to anyone who passes through another country on the way to the U.S. without seeking protection there.
Most people crossing the southern border are Central Americans fleeing violence and poverty. They are largely ineligible under the new rule.
Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor dissented from the high court's order. Sotomayor says the rule upends "longstanding practices regarding refugees who seek shelter from persecution."
- EL NORTE-ANNIVERSARY SCREENING
PHOENIX (AP) — "El Norte," the seminal film about a brother and sister who flee violence in Guatemala to seek a new life in the United States, is returning to the big screen for one day this month for its 35th anniversary.As the flood of Guatemalans and other Central Americans endure the arduous trek to The North, the movie feels as fresh today as it did more than a generation ago, when civil war raged in the highlands south of Mexico.
Restored with the help of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Gregory Nava's "El Norte" will be shown on Sept. 15 at some 200 movie theaters nationwide. The showing will feature an introduction by Nava, who was nominated for an Oscar for the film's screenplay.
Tickets are available through cinema distributor Fathom Events and participating movie theaters.
- BORDER WALL
YUMA, Ariz. (AP) — President Donald Trump says his administration plans to build up to 500 miles (805 kilometers) of border wall by the end of next year, and plans are already taking shape in Arizona and elsewhere.But some are skeptical about whether the goal announced this week is achievable or even necessary.
Construction crews south of Yuma, Arizona, are putting up tall fencing along 5 miles (8 kilometers) of U.S.-Mexico border. The section is replacing shorter barriers meant to keep out cars, but not people.
The Border Patrol says tens of thousands of people have crossed the border illegally through the area and that the existing barriers don't suffice.
While the number of people apprehended by the Border Patrol is up in Yuma compared with last year, the figure has dropped dramatically there and across the southern border over the past few months.