U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez blamed the policies of President Donald Trump for many of the housing problems facing southeast New Mexico.

Vasquez, a Democrat who represents southern New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District, said he was working in Congress to provide more federal housing subsidies to local communities, hoping to see more houses go on the market in rural towns such as Carlsbad.

But he said federal tariffs imposed by Trump on imported goods such as lumber from Canada and electrical components from Mexico drove up the cost of materials needed to build affordable houses, and restrictions on immigration led to a shortage of construction workers.

“The tariffs are impacting the housing industry and the construction industry,” Vasquez said before a crowd of about 25 residents during a public forum held Wednesday, May 6, at Milton’s Brewing in downtown Carlsbad. “This is really critical for housing projects in towns like Carlsbad.”

The forum was part of what Vasquez described as a non-campaign visit to Carlsbad to discuss issues and concerns with local residents and officials.

Vasquez is seeking a third two-year term in this year’s congressional elections. He has no opponent in the June 2 Democratic primary and will likely face the Republican Party’s lone candidate Greg Cunningham in the Nov. 3 general election.

A ‘complex solution

In addition to Trump’s tariff and immigration policies, Vasquez said at the forum, another factor contributing to increased costs and scarcity of affordable housing in Carlsbad was swelling population linked to the booming oil and gas industry.

Eddy County saw New Mexico’s highest population growth, according to 2020 census data, increasing in residents by 15.8%. Most attributed the high growth rate to booming oil and gas production.

Lea County, which shares the Permian Basin oilfield with Carlsbad, increased in population by about 15%, according to the census. The increases boosted demand for housing throughout the region, Vasquez said, driving up prices to levels prohibitive to working families.

“We don’t just want temporary workers, we want families to live here,” he said. “Carlsbad does face unique challenges in providing housing during increased growth. How we provide federal dollars is an important conversation we’re having in Congress, and how they are making their way down to communities like Carlsbad in the best way possible.”

Carlsbad Mayor Rick Lopez also addressed the housing shortage, noting that the city hoped to find its own solution through a hands-on approach that allows local government to control costs.

The effort began with a housing development spearheaded by the city and funded partially by a $4 million appropriation from Eddy County in January. The money came from a $15.6 million fund created to support municipal housing projects.

The project would see mostly three-bedroom, two-bathroom, 1,300-square foot houses offered for about $220,000 on half of a 20-acre property on the south end of town near the corner of Kircher and Boyd Drive. Lopez said apartments would be built on the other 10 acres.

The city paid $1.3 million to purchase the land in October from the Carlsbad Municipal School District and used the county money to extend utilities to the property. Carlsbad officials will next work with a chosen developer to build the houses and maintain the desired price point.

“We have a housing issue. Affordability is really the problem,” Lopez said. “Some areas we lack workers, and in other areas we lack housing. The solution has been very complex.”

Support for city facilities

The morning after the event at Milton’s Brewing, Vasquez paid a visit to the Carlsbad Police Department where he touted a $250,000 federal appropriation the congressman said he “secured” for renovations at the station on Halagueno Street.

The money was part of a $9.9 million package of federal aid Vasquez said in January he included in the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill for the next fiscal year. The bill was incorporated into the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2026 and signed into law by Trump on Feb. 3.

Police Chief Jessie Rodriguez said the money was being used to offset the cost of a $2 million renovation of the station’s fourth floor to accommodate a modernized training facility.

“This will be state of the art. It allows us to all come together,” Rodriguez said. “This is the latest and greatest addition to the Carlsbad Police Department.”

Later Thursday, Vasquez was at the Cavern City Air Terminal where the city is hoping to build a new $4 million terminal to house U.S. Transportation Security Administration staff needed to allow flights from Carlsbad to Dallas Fort Worth International Airport.

The new building was being funded entirely with city money, which Lopez suggested could be offset by federal grants he asked Vasquez to research and procure.

“I fight for every community in my district,” Vasquez said. “Those are good revenue streams to help sustain an airport.”

Managing Editor Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, or @AdrianHedden on the social media platform X.

Southeast New Mexico is a focal point of U.S. oil production amid climbing fuel prices nationwide, according to U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.

Burgum’s comments came during a Monday, May 4, visit to Carlsbad where the secretary met with oil and gas workers and staff from the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management to talk about increased strain on domestic energy production and the role of federal public land.

The interior secretary also represented the U.S.’ Energy Dominance Council, which he chairs, an initiative created by President Donald Trump via an executive order in February.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright serves as vice chair, with most of Trump’s cabinet serving as the other 18 members.

The Council is tasked with advising Trump on strategies to increase American energy production, including oil and gas drilling on federal land. Part of those efforts should target New Mexico, Burgum said, as about 70% of New Mexico’s crude oil production occurs on federal land managed by the Bureau of Land Management. It’s mostly in Eddy and Lea counties within the Permian Basin, according to a report from the American Petroleum Institute.

That’s compared to the 27% of total U.S. crude production that is on federal land, the report read.

“I think it’s putting positive attention on New Mexican producers,” Burgum said of increased domestic production. “The specific basin that is producing the most is the Permian. A big chunk of that is coming from here in southeast New Mexico.”

The Bureau of Land Management’s Carlsbad Field Office processes more applications to permit drilling than all other bureau offices nationwide combined, Burgum said during an interview with the Carlsbad Current-Argus.

Oil and gas extraction cannot begin until permits are approved.

Burgum touted the Interior Department’s efforts to hasten the process and bring more drilling sites online.

When Trump’s administration took office in 2025, Burgum said, applications took about 500 days to approve. Today, he said, approval takes about 100 days.

The Carlsbad Field Office reduced by 90% a backlog of more than 3,000 applications left by the previous administration, Burgum said.

“When it comes to (the Bureau of Land Management), Carlsbad is the center of the universe,” he said.

The increased production cited by Burgum drew criticism recently from Democrats in Congress who said the Interior Department was putting industry needs ahead of the environment.

U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM, who serves as ranking member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, chided Burgum during an April 29 hearing for alleged efforts to reduce the agency’s conservation initiatives.

Heinrich’s criticism focused on Trump’s Fiscal Year 2027 budget request, which the senator said would entail staff cuts at the National Park Service and reduce personnel to approve permitting for renewable energy projects.

“I know the American people care about all of these things, and I am confident that the disregard this administration has for our public lands and waters will not be allowed to degrade and destroy our national heritage,” Heinrich said during the hearing.

Burgum responded that the agency was tasked with a “multiple use” philosophy in managing public lands, a philosophy he said was previously ignored to the detriment of economic prosperity and national security.

“The multiple use strategy leads to affordability for Americans, and it leads to national security,” he said. “(Revenue) goes to the state, it goes to education. It’s not energy versus the environment. It’s a both scenario.”

Heinrich also criticized former U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, Trump’s nominee to lead the Bureau of Land Management. An ardent supporter of oil and gas, Pearce represented New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District from 2003 to 2009 and from 2011 to 2019.

During Pearce’s Feb. 25 confirmation hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Heinrich said Pearce’s past support of the fossil fuel industry was troubling.

“Some of these positions that he has taken, he called for the selling off of public lands. That makes it challenging for me to view his potential tenure at the BLM as one of stewardship,” Heinrich said.

Burgum said he supports Pearce’s nomination and complained that the nominee has yet to receive a confirmation vote from the full Senate after clearing the committee.

“We’re looking forward to his confirmation,” Burgum said. “We’re 15 months in; we’re still trying to get people appointed to these positions. There’s an active effort to try to block this administration’s appointees.”

Managing Editor Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, or @AdrianHedden on the social media platform X.

Frank Methola, the former Loving police chief convicted last year of acting outside his jurisdiction in a 2021 arrest, was sentenced to probation.

Methola, 54, was found guilty Nov. 29, 2025, of a count each of impersonating an officer and battery – both misdemeanors – after police said he attempted to detain a Carlsbad man, Cody Hill, for allegedly speeding within Carlsbad city limits.

Prosecutors argued that Methola’s status as a commissioned officer with the Loving Police Department meant his jurisdiction ended upon leaving the village, which sits about 15 miles south of Carlsbad off U.S. Highway 285. A 12-person jury agreed and returned the guilty verdict following a four-day trial at Eddy County District Court in Carlsbad.

Methola was sentenced April 28 to one year of probation for impersonating an officer and 182 days for petty misdemeanor battery. District Judge David Finger ordered the sentences to run concurrently, meaning Methola will serve a total of one year of probation.

He filed a notice of appeal May 4 in New Mexico Supreme Court but had yet to file a docketing statement outlining reasons the guilty verdict should be overturned.

Outside jurisdiction

Although he drove a designated Loving police car and was dressed in his full officer uniform, Methola did not possess a commission card from the Eddy County Sheriff’s Office, prosecutors argued, allowing him to make traffic stops and arrests outside of Loving but within Eddy County.

That meant Methola acted outside of his jurisdiction when he detained Hill, prosecutors asserted, using a Taser and handcuffing him after Methola alleged Hill resisted.

Hill was never arrested or issued a citation.

On June 2, 2023, Methola filed a motion to dismiss the case, arguing his pursuit of Hill began in Loving and continued as the alleged speeder ignored orders to pull over and drove into Carlsbad.

The motion also argued that state law allowed officers to make arrests outside of their jurisdiction when in “fresh pursuit” of a defendant fleeing that jurisdiction.

Eddy County and the village of Loving had a “joint police services agreement” in effect at the time of the incident, read the motion to dismiss, meaning Loving police officers were allowed to make arrests in other Eddy County jurisdictions.

The agreement stated the village of Loving will “provide police services to the extent available or on an as needed basis.” It also listed fire and emergency medical services being provided to residents of Eddy County by the village as needed and determined by the Eddy County Commission.

Fifth Judicial District Attorney Diana Luce argued at trial that the memorandum did not give officers the authority to pursue suspects alone and make arrests across jurisdictional boundaries.

She said Methola’s actions could cast doubt on the arrest, potentially impacting the ability to secure a conviction.

“I know it seems like a technicality, but the problem is that if a stop is bad, any such case would be dismissed,” she said following the verdict.

Managing Editor Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, or @AdrianHedden on the social media platform X.