Lujan Grisham demands federal reparations for a crisis her own party's border policies made possible
Albuquerque, NM — Republican U.S. Senate candidate Larry Marker today blasted Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Democrat state leaders for demanding federal reparations over the DEA fentanyl-walking scandal, calling it a transparent attempt to collect a check instead of pursuing real accountability for the officials responsible.
"Governor Lujan Grisham stood up at a press conference and said, 'somebody must pay for the damage to this state,'" Marker said. "She's right. But she means money. I mean consequences. Those are not the same thing, and New Mexicans should be furious that their governor thinks a payout is justice for dead children."
At a Monday news conference, Lujan Grisham said the state would pursue federal reimbursement, potentially seeking "hundreds of millions of dollars" in damages, while also weighing state legislation to restrict the practice going forward.
"Where was that outrage when her own U.S. Attorney was the one running the operation?" Marker said. "Where was that outrage when DEA Special Agent David Howell was trying to blow the whistle and got his career destroyed for it? Now that the cameras are rolling, suddenly everybody at that podium wants to talk tough. None of them have called for a single firing. None of them have called for a single prosecution. They want New Mexico to get paid, but they don't want anybody who actually did this held responsible. That's not justice, it's a Democrat shakedown."
Marker noted that House Speaker Javier Martínez, D-Albuquerque, said at the same press conference that he was "not concerned with assigning political blame," despite the fact that the scandal occurred entirely under a Democrat administration, supervised by a U.S. Attorney whom Senator Ben Ray Luján voted to confirm.
"'Not concerned with assigning political blame' is the most Santa Fe sentence I've ever heard," Marker said. "Translation: don't look at us. This is the same party that has spent years fighting every serious border security measure, opposing enforcement funding, and pushing sanctuary-style policies that make it easier, not harder, for cartels to move fentanyl into this country in the first place. You cannot spend years undermining border enforcement and then act shocked when fentanyl floods your own state.
New Mexico Democrats didn't just fail to stop this crisis. Their policies helped build the highway it came in on." Marker also pointed to the state's continued catch-and-release policies for criminal offenders as part of the same pattern of Democrat dereliction.
"It's not just the border. It's not just a DEA decision in a back room in Albuquerque. It's a whole philosophy of letting dangerous people walk free and hoping it works out," Marker said. "Catch-and-release for criminal traffickers, sanctuary policies that protect cartel operatives from federal enforcement, and now we learn the DEA was letting fentanyl walk too.
Every single time, the excuse is the same: trust the process, trust the bigger plan. And every single time, New Mexico families pay the price. Democrats in Santa Fe have had years to end catch-and-release. They've refused. Until that changes, nothing about this crisis gets better, no matter how many press conferences Michelle Lujan Grisham holds."
Marker pointed to New Mexico's standing as the worst state in the nation for rising overdose deaths: a 21.1% increase last year, with state health officials warning deaths could rise another 24% this year, as proof that platitudes and payouts won't fix what years of failed policy created.
"You don't fix a crisis you helped create by asking the federal government to write a check," Marker said. "You fix it by securing the border so the fentanyl never gets here, and by prosecuting every single person—DEA, DOJ, U.S. Attorney, doesn't matter who—who knowingly let it happen."
Marker also noted that Democrat officials at Monday's press conference were long on outrage and short on specifics about who would actually be held responsible. "Words are cheap. Where's the plan to fire someone? Where's the plan to prosecute someone? I haven't heard it," Marker said. "And before New Mexico asks the federal government for another check, taxpayers deserve to know what happened to the last one."
Marker called on Attorney General Raúl Torrez to ensure his promised "aggressive" inquiry results in actual referrals for prosecution, not just a report that gathers dust.
"New Mexicans don't want a settlement. They want the people responsible for their children's deaths to face real consequences," Marker said. "If Democrats in Santa Fe and Washington won't demand that, I will."
Larry Marker is a Republican candidate for the United States Senate in New Mexico.
