DALLAS (AP) — The U.S. government plans to house up to 3,000 immigrant teenagers at a convention center in downtown Dallas as it struggles to find space for a surge of migrant children at the border who have strained the immigration system just two months into the Biden administration. American authorities encountered people crossing the border without legal status more …

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico lawmakers advanced a bill toward a final Senate vote to eliminate police immunity from prosecution in state courts on civil rights violations ranging from racial discrimination to illegal search and seizure and freedom of speech violations. On a 5-4 vote, a Senate committee on judiciary affairs endorsed the proposed New Mexico Civil Rights …

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico Senate on Tuesday passed a bill that would require public schools to extend the school year to help students catch up from the loss of learning during the pandemic. The measure would stretch the next school year by 25 days for K-5 students and 10 days for most 6-12 schools by requiring …

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A bill capping interest rates at 36% annually for low-dollar loans cleared the New Mexico Senate on Tuesday. Supporters argue that current law allows short-term loans to take advantage of the poor and send borrowers into a debt spiral. “Access to up to two triple-digit interest rate credit is like giving a starving person poisoned …

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas is lifting its mask mandate, Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday, making it the largest state to end an order intended to prevent the spread of the coronavirus that has killed more than 42,000 Texans. The Republican governor has faced sharp criticism from his party over the mandate, which was imposed eight months ago, as well …

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Friday signed a bill to shore up abortion rights in New Mexico, saying a woman has the right to make decisions about her own body. The legislation, which won final approval from the Democratic-led Legislature last week, overturns a dormant 1969 ban on most abortion procedures. Had the old …

HOUSTON (AP) — President Joe Biden heard firsthand from Texans clobbered by this month’s brutal winter weather on Friday as he and his wife made their first trip to a major disaster area since he took office. Biden was briefed by emergency officials and thanked workers for doing “God’s work.” With tens of thousands of Houston area residents still without …

HOUSTON (AP) — President Joe Biden heard firsthand from Texans clobbered by this month’s brutal winter weather on Friday as he and his wife made their first trip to a major disaster area since he took office. Biden was briefed by emergency officials and thanked workers for doing “God’s work.” With tens of thousands of Houston area residents still without …

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Democratic House Speaker Brian Egolf says security fencing that encircles the state Capitol building will remain in place through the end of the current legislative session on March 20 on the advice of state security officials including New Mexico State Police. Egolf told news media in a video conference on Thursday that the fencing has …

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s nominee to head the Interior Department faced sharp questions from Republicans Tuesday over what several called her “radical” ideas that include opposition to fracking and the Keystone XL oil pipeline. Deb Haaland, a New Mexico congresswoman named to lead the Interior Department, tried to reassure GOP lawmakers, saying she is committed to “strike the …