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Artesia General Hospital named to national program

Michael Smith
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Artesia General Hospital named to national program

Staff Reports

Artesia General Hospital has been named one of 10 new participants in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Rural Community Hospital Demonstration Program, a national initiative aimed at strengthening rural healthcare access.

The Rural Community Hospital Demonstration Program supports the long-term sustainability of small rural hospitals by testing cost-based reimbursement models for Medicare inpatient services. Traditional Medicare payment systems often leave rural hospitals underfunded due to lower patient volumes and higher operating costs. This program addresses that challenge by reimbursing participating hospitals based on the actual cost of providing care, rather than standard fixed rates.

“Being selected for the RCH Demonstration Program is a meaningful milestone for Artesia General Hospital,” said Cory Yates, chief financial officer at AGH. “This opportunity reflects CMS’s recognition of the critical work being carried out here in southeast New Mexico—where rural hospitals like ours serve as a lifeline for entire communities. The financial support provided through this program will allow us to reinvest in our facilities, expand access to care, upgrade essential medical equipment, and ensure we can continue meeting the growing needs of our patients with excellence and compassion.”

By transitioning to a cost-based model, hospitals like AGH are better positioned to stabilize finances, retain skilled professionals, improve infrastructure and maintain essential services for aging and underserved populations. Ultimately, the program helps rural hospitals remain open and responsive to local healthcare needs, reducing the need for patients to travel long distances for inpatient care.

AGH was selected through a competitive application process initiated by CMS in December 2024. With this designation, AGH joins 20 previously selected hospitals and nine other new awardees, including Roosevelt General Hospital in Portales, bringing the program to its cap of 30 participating hospitals nationwide. AGH will participate in the demonstration program through June 2028.

For more information about the Rural Community Hospital Demonstration Program, visit cms.gov.

Artesia General Hospital is a not-for-profit healthcare provider serving southeast New Mexico with compassionate, high-quality care. It is the only healthcare facility in New Mexico certified as a Great Place to Work and has been recognized as one of the state’s most recommended hospitals by Becker’s Hospital Review, based on independent patient feedback. The hospital offers a broad range of services designed to meet the evolving needs of communities across the region.

Artesia man accused of sex with teenage girls

Michael Smith
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Artesia man accused of sex with teenage girls

Adrian Hedden
Carlsbad Current-Argus
achedden@currentargus.com

A trial will proceed against an Artesia man who was charged with several felonies after police said he sexually assaulted two teenage girls last summer after serving them alcohol.

Evan Velo, 23, was charged with three counts each of criminal sexual penetration of a minor and providing alcohol to minors. He was arrested on April 8 and made his first appearance before Artesia Magistrate Judge Jimmy Foster on April 14.

Velo was released from custody pending trial the day of his first appearance in court, but his case was bound over May 9 to Fifth Judicial District Court, meaning the district attorney’s office believes there is enough evidence to convict Velo of the charges in the higher court.

He will be arraigned before District Judge Lisa Riley on May 27.

What follows is a compressed version of the events leading up to Velo’s arrest and charges, according to a criminal complaint.

On Aug. 18, 2024, an aunt of one of the girls, reported to police that one of her niece’s friends, also 16 years old, “pimped her out” after she ran away from home about two or three weeks before to be with her 16-year-old boyfriend.

It was the girl’s friend who introduced her to Velo, the aunt told police. She said her niece did not want to enter Velo’s home in the 200 block of North 22nd Street in Artesia on July 15, but he offered her an already-open Dr. Pepper container which she drank from. The girl later said Velo gave her and her friend alcohol.

The girl told investigators she didn’t remember how she entered the home and said she was in and out of consciousness. She did remember being inside a bedroom with Velo on top of her, police said, and that he was sexually assaulting her. The girl said she woke up, fully clothed, sitting on a lawn chair outside the home.

The police executed a search warrant for security footage at the trailer park where the alleged assault occurred, noting the girl was seen on the property July 3 and 15.

Investigators also accessed the girl’s profile on Snapchat, which she used to take photos while at the scene, to confirm the location. Photos acquired from Velo’s social media accounts also showed both girls in his home on the same dates.

When police made contact with Velo, asking him how he knew the girl, he said he “was scared and didn’t want to talk,” read the complaint.

The girl, now living in Oklahoma with family, was interviewed by investigators on Sept. 26, 2024. She told police her family moved her out of New Mexico in 2024 because she was “messing around” with a 22-year-old.

She said she drank alcohol with Velo, and “messed around” on multiple occasions including July 3 when they were alone, and July 15 where they were with her friend at Velo’s home.

The girl also told police Velo had sex with her and her friend on July 15 after providing the girls alcohol.

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

Artesia track and field athletes at the state meet on Saturday

JT Keith
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The Artesia girls 4×200 relay gets a start with the lead runner. All photos by Joe Grimando
Here is another Artesia runner for the 4×200 relay as the team would finish in fifth place with a time of 1:46.64
Here the runner for Artesia passes another runner to move into podium position.
An Artesia athletes gets ready to run at the state meet Saturday.
Artesia’s Kaylee Berdoza finished in fifth place in the 400m dash with a time of 1:02.05.
Artesia’s Hattie Harrison finished in third place in the 300m hurdles on Saturday at the state meet.
Artesia’s Hattie Harrison finished in third place in the 300 m hurdles with a time of 46.39

Long weekend brings boat safety warnings

Michael Smith
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Long weekend brings boat safety warnings

Mike Smith
Carlsbad Current-Argus
msmith@currentargus.com

With many New Mexicans gearing up for the traditional start of the state’s boating season over Memorial Day weekend, officials are urging boaters to be vigilant about safety.

Not coincidentally, the New Mexico State Parks Division noted in a news release, May 18-24 is Safe Boating Week, sponsored by the National Safe Boating Council to highlight boating safety measures, including the importance of wearing life jackets.

“Boating is a beloved way to enjoy the outdoors in New Mexico, but safety must come first,” said Toby Velasquez. director of the parks division. “Wearing a life jacket is a simple step that saves lives. Whether you’re on a kayak, sailboat or motorboat, being prepared makes all the difference.”

Gabe Maestas, the parks division’s bureau chief for law enforcement and safety, said that drownings account or 75% of boating deaths.

“Life jackets do save lives,” Maestas said.

Under rules adopted on Jan. 1, 2025, the parks division news release read, “everyone engaged in any type of boating activity in New Mexico … must wear a U.S. Coast Guard approved life jacket”

“There were 28 boating-related incidents in New Mexico in 2024,” said Velasquez. “Our park rangers see firsthand how quickly an outing can turn into a tragedy. As the boating season begins, we’re reminding everyone to prioritize safety by wearing their life jacket, boating sober, and operating watercraft safely.”

Maestas emphasized the importance of an overall safety plan.

“Designate a sober boat operator,” he said. “Prepare a float plan. Have a point of contact, someone should know when you’re going to be off the water and where you’re going to be.”

Maestas said park rangers will be enforcing boating regulations at all state parks across New Mexico.

More information about safe boating is available online on the state parks division’s Boating in New Mexico webpage.

Mike Smith can be reached at 575-308-8734.

Gaining perspective on working as a journalist in the United States

Michael Smith
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Gaining perspective on working as a journalist in the United States

Trip Jennings

Southern sheriffs have threatened to arrest me, and I’ve landed on more than one governor’s blacklist. So aggravating has been my persistence that, on occasion, spokespeople for elected officials have hollered at me in public.

A journalist’s life in the United States is not for the timid. However, I’ve never felt physically in danger.

I thought about this last week as I sat with journalists from around South America and Latin America. The gaggle was seated around a table in a legislative committee room at the Roundhouse in Santa Fe thanks to a U.S. State Department-funded initiative called the Edward Murrow Program for Journalists.

These visits are a yearly tradition for me. Every spring an email hits my inbox from Global Santa Fe, formerly known as the Santa Fe Council on International Relations, asking me to visit with journalists from elsewhere. The reporters, editors and journalism professors I’ve visited with over the years have hailed from countries too numerous to list but Venezuela, Latvia, Germany, Russia, Belarus, Mexico, Namibia, El Salvador and Colombia come to mind.

Yet, last week’s visit felt different. Maybe it was the stories the journalists told and the questions they asked.

Some had truly harrowing tales.

There was the young woman living in exile because it is too dangerous to practice independent journalism in her native Nicaragua, where the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo have cracked down on protesters and the journalists who report on them. And the young woman from Ecuador who is accompanied by military escorts everywhere she goes in public because she could be kidnapped. Long a peaceful place, Ecuador has erupted into violence over the last half decade as drug trafficking and gang violence have risen. Last year, cartel members, armed with explosives, took television broadcasters hostage in front of a live audience.

I was still digesting this recounting of journalistic life in these countries when a young woman from Bolivia asked how my mental health was, seeing as how journalism is so embattled.

I thought for a moment. I had no harrowing tales of my own to regale the group with. Being yelled at is not fun. Neither is a sheriff poking his finger angrily in your chest while threatening you with arrest or governors banning you from press conferences. But I have never had to contemplate whether the questions I ask public officials might lead to my being disappeared.

I said as much and told the visitors they were truly the courageous ones doing journalism in the face of existential threats.

These days, my fears about journalism in the U.S. focus more on the withering away of the news industry than any potential violence. I believe fervently, now more than ever, the country needs journalists to make sense of all that is happening here in the U.S. and around the globe.

I know not everyone agrees with me.

Then came the question I had expected all along: What about the Trump administration? Will U.S. journalists become targets; their lives made miserable, even dangerous?

It is unquestionably a weird time to work as a journalist in the U.S., especially for those of us who’ve been doing the job for years and remember a different time.

It is a fact that President Donald Trump poses the biggest challenge in my lifetime to journalism as we’ve known it, especially those media outlets that attempt to cover his administration impartially. However, the threat, it seems to me, is more financial than physical: in the form of bogus lawsuits filed to intimidate intrepid reporters and their editors — and drain much-needed resources — and in presidential calls to eliminate federal dollars that support NPR and PBS.

But could it become so bad for journalists that they will have to worry about their safety?

It’s hard for me to envision such a future. But I’m aware enough of my own limitations to understand that predicting the future based on a past in which violence against journalists is off limits doesn’t promise a violence-free future. Such prognostication works until it doesn’t. Sometimes, systems collapse, and with them societal norms.

Are we nearing that point of collapse in our country? I don’t think so, but I’ll hedge by saying it’s too soon to tell.

During the conversation I told the visiting journalists I used to laugh at my mother when she would recoil from the latest version of Trip-angered-another-public official and counsel me to be careful over the phone. Even as a young reporter, I knew the high cost a public official would pay for physically harming a journalist. Although reporters in the U.S. have been assassinated over the last half century, that kind of violence is rare in our country.

I’m not sure we live in that country anymore. Trump and his administration don’t worry me as much as a lone wolf who feels a sense of destiny and a desire to rid the world of pesky irritants that make life harder for the current president and his administration.

What I didn’t tell the visiting journalists is that if my mom were still around, I’d still laugh at her warning. But I’d thank her for being aware of how truly mystifying it is to be a journalist in the U.S. these days.

Trip Jennings started his career in Georgia at his hometown newspaper, The Augusta Chronicle, before working at newspapers in California, Florida and Connecticut where he reported on many stories, including the resignation and incarceration of Connecticut’s then-governor, John Rowland, and gang warfare in California. Since 2005, Trip has covered politics and state government for the Albuquerque Journal, The New Mexico Independent and the Santa Fe New Mexican. He holds a Master’s of Divinity from Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Ga. In 2012, he co-founded New Mexico In Depth, a nonpartisan, nonprofit media outlet that produces investigative, data-rich stories with an eye on solutions that can be a catalyst for change.

Artesia’s 4×200 Relay finishes in first place

JT Keith
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Artesia’s Cuellar runs with the baton in the 4×200 relay at the state meet on Saturday. All photos by Joe Grimando
Artesia finishes in first place in the 4×200 relay.
Artesia celebrates the 4×200 victory on Saturday at the state meet.
Artesia track’s 4×200 relay team celebrates with Bulldogs’ fans on Saturday.

Artesia Police Blotter

Michael Smith
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Artesia Police Blotter

April 26

WELFARE

12:49 am – Officer dispatched to N. 6th St. and W. Cannon Ave. in reference to the welfare of an adult.

RECKLESS

11:06 am – Officer dispatched to N. 13th St. and W. Richey Ave. in reference to a reckless vehicle.

SUSPICIOUS

11:57 am – Officer dispatched to 400 block of W. Quay Ave. in reference to suspicious trespass.

DOMESTIC

12:21 pm – Officer dispatched to 900 block of W. Texas Ave. in reference to domestic.

ALARM

1:54 pm – Officer dispatched to 700 block of N. Roselawn Ave. in reference to a burglary alarm.

WELFARE

3:48 pm – Officer dispatched to 900 block of W. Texas Ave. in reference to the welfare of an adult.

ACCIDENT

4:14 pm – Officer dispatched to 100 block of N. 25th St. in reference to a motor vehicle accident.

SUSPICIOUS

5:27 pm – Officer dispatched to S. 4th St. and W. Dallas Ave. in reference to a suspicious person.

ALARM

5:40 pm – Officer dispatched to 1400 block of Adams Dr. in reference to a burglary alarm.

DOMESTIC

5:58 pm – Officer dispatched to 1700 block of Clayton Ct. in reference to a verbal domestic.

WELFARE

7:20 pm – Officer dispatched to N. 8th St. and W. Lolita Ave. in reference to the welfare of an adult.

DISTURBANCE

7:29 pm – Officer dispatched to 1200 block of W. Centre Ave. in reference to disorderly disturbance.

DOMESTIC

8:13 pm – Officer dispatched to 800 block of S. Roselawn Ave. in reference to domestic.

RECKLESS

9:13 pm – Officer dispatched to E. Main St. and S. 1st St. in reference to a reckless vehicle.

SUSPICIOUS

9:22 pm – Officer dispatched to 3800 block of W. Missouri Ave. in reference to a suspicious person.

DOMESTIC

9:41 pm – Officer dispatched to 800 block of S. Roselawn Ave. in reference to a verbal domestic.

LOUD

10:06 pm – Officer dispatched to 900 block of W. Missouri Ave. in reference to a loud noise.

10:36 pm – Officer dispatched to 900 block of W. Missouri Ave. in reference to a loud party.

WELFARE

10:43 pm – Officer dispatched to 700 block of N. 10th St. in reference to the welfare of a child.

DISTURBANCE

10:49 pm – Officer dispatched to 900 block of W. Missouri Ave. in reference to neighborly disturbance.

UNWANTED

11:08 pm – Officer dispatched to 700 block of W. Lolita Ave. in reference to an unwanted subject.

VANDAL

11:12 pm – Officer dispatched to 900 block of W. Missouri Ave. in reference to vandal.

April 27

THREATS

12:27 am – Officer dispatched to 900 block of W. Missouri Ave. in reference to threats.

VANDAL

1:11 am – Officer dispatched to 700 block of W. Lolita Ave. in reference to vehicle vandal.

SUSPICIOUS

6:42 am – Officer dispatched to 700 block of N. 10th St. in reference to a suspicious person.

DISTURBANCE

8:06 am – Officer dispatched to 700 block of W. James Ave. in reference to disorderly disturbance.

LARCENY

8:18 am – Officer dispatched to 1100 block of N. 1st St. in reference to larceny.

ARMED

8:26 am – Officer dispatched to 1600 block of W. Briscoe Ave. in reference to an armed subject.

WANTED

12:14 pm – Officer dispatched to Clayton Ct. and S. 18th St. in reference to a wanted subject.

12:15 pm – Officer dispatched to S. 10th St. and W. Grand Ave. in reference to a wanted subject.

ACCIDENT

12:43 pm – Officer dispatched to Bowman Dr. and W. Richey Ave. in reference to a motor vehicle accident.

ALARM

12:45 pm – Officer dispatched to 2400 block of Loma Dr. in reference to a burglary alarm.

DISTURBANCE

1:20 pm – Officer dispatched to 3100 block of W. Dallas Ave. in reference to disorderly disturbance.

RECKLESS

2:28 pm – Officer dispatched to S. 4th St. and Hermosa Dr. in reference to a reckless vehicle.

DISURTBANCE

2:49 pm – Officer dispatched to 2100 block of W. Richardson Ave. in reference to disorderly disturbance.

ACCIDENT

3:00 pm – Officer dispatched to N. 8th St. and W. Bush Ave. in reference to a motor vehicle accident.

SUSPICIOUS

3:03 pm – Officer dispatched to S. 20th St. and W. Main St. in reference to a suspicious person.

WELFARE

5:43 pm – Officer dispatched to 600 block of W. Richardson Ave in reference to the welfare of a child.

LARCENY

6:38 pm – Officer dispatched to 600 block of N. 26th St. in reference to larceny shoplift.

7:27 pm – Officer dispatched to 1100 block of W. Dallas Ave. in reference to larceny.

DOMESTIC

8:00 pm – Officer dispatched to 600 block of N. 26th St. in reference to verbal domestic.

8:27 pm – Officer dispatched to 500 block of W. Missouri Ave. in reference to physical domestic.

DISTURBANCE

8:10 pm – Officer dispatched to 1000 block of S. 14th St. in reference to family disturbance.

8:41 pm – Officer dispatched to 700 block of N. 10th St. in reference to disturbance.

ACCIDENT

10:41 pm – Officer dispatched to 700 block of N. 13th St. in reference to a motor vehicle accident.

VANDAL

11:57 pm – Officer dispatched to 600 block of N. 26th St. in reference to vehicle vandal.

April 28

DOMESTIC

12:50 am – Officer dispatched to 700 block of N. 10th St. in reference to physical domestic.

SUSPICIOUS

5:03 am – Officer dispatched to Bowman Dr. and Gilchrist in reference to a suspicious person.

ACCIDENT

5:58 am – Officer dispatched to JC Park and S. 26th St. in reference to a motor vehicle accident.

6:38 am – Officer dispatched to W. Bullock Ave. in reference to a motor vehicle accident.

SUSPICIOUS

8:09 am – Officer dispatched to S. Ward Ave. and W. Hermosa Dr. in reference to suspicious person.

ACCIDENT

9:00 am – Officer dispatched to 2600 block of W. Main St. in reference to a motor vehicle accident.

WELFARE

9:48 am – Officer dispatched to 3300 block of W. Main St. in reference to the welfare of an adult.

UNWANTED

10:11 am – Officer dispatched to 700 block of N. 10th St. in reference to an unwanted subject.

11:06 am – Officer dispatched to 800 block of S. 1st St. in reference to an unwanted subject.

DOMESTIC

11:32 am – Officer dispatched to 700 block of N. 10th St. in reference to a verbal domestic.

1:58 pm – Officer dispatched to 500 block of S. 20th St. in reference to physical domestic.

WELFARE

4:47 pm – Officer dispatched to 600 block of W. Main St. in reference to the welfare of an adult.

LARCENY

5:23 pm -Officer dispatched to 1100 block of N. 1st St. in reference to larceny shoplifting.

RECKLESS

5:29 pm – Officer dispatched to 1100 block of W. Bullock Ave. in reference to a reckless vehicle.

WELFARE

6:22 pm – Officer dispatched to 600 block of N. 26th St. in reference to the welfare of an adult.

RECKLESS

6:43 pm – Officer dispatched to 400 block of W. Logan Ave. in reference to a reckless vehicle.

HARASSMENT

6:56 pm – Officer dispatched to 3300 block of W. Main St. in reference to harassment.

BURGLARY

7:33 pm – Officer dispatched to 1800 block of W. Centre Ave. in reference to auto burglary.

SUSPICIOUS

7:40 pm – Officer dispatched to 2500 block of Permian Pavilion in reference to a suspicious person.

RECKLESS

8:02 pm – Officer dispatched to S. 4th St. and W. Hermosa Dr. in reference to a reckless vehicle.

UNWANTED

9:30 pm – Officer dispatched to 700 block of N. 10th St. in reference to an unwanted subject.

10:24 pm – Officer dispatched to 1900 block of W. Richey Ave. in reference to an unwanted subject.

Home-cooked specialties at Rise and Dine

Michael Smith
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Home-cooked specialties at Rise and Dine

Mike Smith
Artesia Daily Press
msmith@currentargus.com

Working in the oil fields for 14 years and a passion for cooking gave Laramie Rollins an idea to create a different kind of food truck business in Artesia.

“We live in a small town, so it gives us different opportunities,” he said.

Since January, Rollins and his wife Marie serve up breakfast items to commuters and oil field workers at the Rise and Dine food truck located at 808 South First Street.

Planning for the business started in September of 2024 as both filled out paperwork to form a limited liability company along with government paperwork pertaining to taxes and food handling.

Laramie said he and Marie then looked at trailers making sure everything was set for the specifications to open Rise and Dine on Jan. 10.

Laramie and Marie are a two-person operation, and the food truck was more convenient than finding property for a restaurant.

“We both worked in the restaurant industry a long time ago when we were young waitressing and working in the kitchen when we were super young,” she said.

Laramie added with the food truck the couple does not have to worry about employees, building or maintenance.

“Maintenance on this is tires, maybe a water pump here and there,” he said.

Marie said all menu items are made from scratch in the food truck and Laramie said both arrive an hour before opening to prepare for the day.

“Nothing is frozen, we cut our own potatoes, we peel our own potatoes, and we cook them fresh,” she said.

Before opening Rise and Dine, Marie said she and her husband ate at various food trucks and wanted to offer something different to the community.

“Kind of offer something that people don’t see here often like the corn beef hash,” she said.

“The yogurt parfait is pretty popular. We actually make our own stovetop granola; we make it here in house and I try to offer as many flavors as I can.”

Marie said biscuits and gravy are another popular item on the menu and is only offered on Saturday’s.

“We don’t have an oven in here (the trailer) and we use a commercial roaster to make it and it takes up a whole lot of room,” she said.

“We eat a lot of biscuits and gravy at home, and we wanted to offer that.”

Breakfast burritos, breakfast sandwiches and breakfast sandwich plates are also part of the menu.

“We actually were not going to offer burritos; we actually didn’t have it on the menu when we started. But we’ve had so many people come and ask. So, we just decided to go ahead and add it on there. A lot of guys going out to the oil field need something to go, and they can’t eat the plate, so we just decided to give the customer something a little more convenient and we just decided to add that on there,” Marie said.

May 1 hours were expanded from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. to 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday to accommodate a lunch time crowd.

A Philly cheesesteak sandwich with chips is part of the lunch menu, according to Laramie.

He said a green chile melt was part of the lunchtime addition and lunch is served starting at 10 a.m.

“Which is corn beef brisket with green chile (and) cheese on Texas toast,” Laramie said.

“When we set this up, we didn’t come into it to make money we wanted to provide a service to the local community. On a Saturday on any given week, there’s not a lot of opportunity to eat breakfast. That’s where we kind of said, ‘OK let’s breakfast, but let’s be fair.’ We don’t want to get the point where we are charging $25 for an egg sandwich.”

Marie said everything served at Rise and Dine is something the couple would eat at home.

“We ask our customers a lot of questions when they come in. We get a lot of feedback from the community just to make sure (the proper items are being served),” she said.

Mike Smith can be reached at 575-308-8734 or follow on X @mikesmithartesianm.

Artesia boys and girls at the state track meet

JT Keith
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Artesia’s Makaylee Morillon gets second place in the javelin with a throw of 113′ 10″ at the state meet on Saturday. Here she is on the podium in second place. All photos by Joe Grimando
Artesia Makaylee Morillon is on the podium in second place with a javelin throw of 113′ 10″
A picture of Artesia 4×100 runner Kaityln Addington getting ready to start the race. Artesia would place third with a time of 49.61.
Artesia’s Kaityln Addington is getting ready to start the 4×100 relay on Saturday.
Artesia’s Esiah Sais is in the blocks to start the boys 4×100 relay for Artesia. The team would finish in third place.
Artesia’s Hattie Harrison won in the 100 hurdles with a time of 14.77.
Artesia’s Bryce Parra finished in fifth place in the 100 dash for boys with a time of 11.22.
Artesia’s Zane Baize finished in second place in the 800m run with a time of 1:58.79
Artesia’s Kailee Padilla starts the 4×200 girls relay. The Lady ‘Dogs would finish in fifth place with a time of 1:47.64

Bad political theater in Newark

Michael Smith
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Bad political theater in Newark

Cal Thomas

Political theater extends back to the Greeks. William Shakespeare wrote about politics in “Coriolanus” and other plays. A personal favorite of mine was “Fiorello!”, a 1959 musical about New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia.

What happened in Newark last week was political theater at its worst. New Jersey Democrat Representatives Bonnie Watson Coleman, Rob Menendez (son of former Senator Robert Menendez), La Monica McIver along with Newark Mayor Ras Baraka attempted to conduct an “oversight” visit at a federally contracted building used by ICE to detain undocumented immigrants, including people charged or convicted of crimes. According to a statement from the Department of Homeland Security, the group had not asked to tour the facility and “that as a bus carrying detainees was entering the facility, ‘a group of protestors,’ including two members of the U.S. House of Representatives, stormed the gate and broke into the detention facility.”

Only Mayor Baraka was handcuffed, arrested and later released. Baraka was charged with trespassing, which he denies. I’m sure it is only coincidental that Baraka is one of six major Democrats running for governor of New Jersey. The incident got him free publicity.

The members of Congress claimed they were exercising their “oversight” responsibilities, which apparently included alerting the media and informing a crowd of demonstrators, some carrying signs.

On the social media site “X,” Acting U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey Alina Habba denied Baraka’s assertion that he was leaving when agents arrested him: “The Mayor of Newark … committed trespass and ignored multiple warnings from Homeland Security Investigations to remove himself from the ICE detention center in Newark, New Jersey, this afternoon. He has willingly chosen to disregard the law. That will not stand in this state … NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW.”

Where have we heard that one before?

Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of Public Affairs for DHS, gave the agency’s version of even ts after the group of Democrats got through the gate: “…Representatives Robert Menendez Jr. and Bonnie Watson Coleman and multiple protestors are holed up in a guard shack, the first security check point.

“Members of Congress storming into a detention facility goes beyond a bizarre political stunt and puts the safety of our law enforcement agents and detainees at risk. Members of Congress are not above the law and cannot illegally break into detention facilities. Had these members requested a tour, we would have facilitated a tour of the facility.”

We can expect to see more stunts and “grandstanding” like the one in Newark because that’s all that Democrats seem to have in their little toolbox.

Mayor Baraka might make better use of his time working on Newark’s deplorable public schools where “Nearly 70% of students in grades 3-9 are falling short of meeting literacy benchmarks, around 82% aren’t meeting math standards, and 93% of fifth graders are below grade-level in science,” according to Chalkbeat Newark.

It’s sad to see a once great political party descend into irrelevancy. Democrats are stuck in the mire of bad ideas that go back more than six decades – from claiming Republicans want to do away with Social Security, to denouncing the rich, raising taxes and increased spending on failed government programs. All they have left is their defense of criminals, open borders and the ultimate election loser: biological men in women’s sports.

In “Fiorello!,” one song seems to sum up the cynicism many feel about modern politicians:

“Politics and poker, politics and poker

Playing for a pot that’s mediocre

Politics and poker, running neck and neck

If politics seems more predictable

That’s because usually you can stack the deck!”

Many good Broadway plays and films have been created over the years with politics as their central theme. If what happened last week in Newark was a play, it would have closed before opening night in New York due to bad reviews.

Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com. Look for Cal Thomas’ latest book “A Watchman in the Night: What I’ve Seen Over 50 Years Reporting on America” (HumanixBooks).

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