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New Mexico lawmakers debate allowing convicts to vote

New Mexico's legislature this week began considering a bill to give convicted felons the right to vote while incarcerated or on parole. The legislation would go further than the initiative approved by last fall by Florida voters, who restored voting rights for all convicted felons, except murderers and sex offenders, and further than the law President Trump signed in December, easing some of the most punitive prison sentences at the federal level without restoring the franchise to federal convicts.

In Albuquerque, supporters told a state House panel the bill was an important vehicle for boosting the rights of minority groups that have historically had disproportionately high incarceration rates. Opponents lambasted the idea of extending such rights to violent offenders.



The bill's sponsor, Democratic state Rep. Gail Chasey, citing statistics that show 94 percent of New Mexico's 7,000 inmates will eventually be released, said allowing them to be politically active while in prison will make them more engaged citizens when they get out.

Under current New Mexico law, people convicted of felonies are removed from the voting rolls and prohibited from voting again until after they have completed their sentence, probation or parole. Maine and Vermont are the only states that do not take the vote away from the incarcerated.

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Dozens of Questions: How Are Trump’s Auto Parts Tariffs Affecting the Broader Economy?

Photo of a car being assembled by robotic arms

Lenny Kuhne via Unsplash

Dozens of Questions: How Are Trump’s Auto Parts Tariffs Affecting the Broader Economy?

President Donald Trump made economic waves earlier this year when he announced a 25% tariff on imported automobiles and parts with the stated goal of revitalizing U.S. auto manufacturing. Yet as of summer 2025, the majority (92%) of Mexican-made auto parts continue to enter the United States tariff-free.

That’s because of a March 2025 revision that exempts cars and parts manufactured in compliance with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) from tariffs.

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LGBTQ Refugees Came to America To Escape Discrimination. Now, They Live in Fear in the U.S.
blue and yellow abstract painting
Photo by Steve Johnson on Unsplash

LGBTQ Refugees Came to America To Escape Discrimination. Now, They Live in Fear in the U.S.

Salvadoran refugee Alberto, who is using a pseudonym out of safety concerns, did not feel secure in his own home. Being a gay man in a country known for state-sponsored violence and community rejection meant Alberto lived his life on high alert.

His family did not accept him. He says one family member physically attacked him because of his identity. He says he has been followed, harassed, and assaulted by police, accused of crimes he didn’t commit when he was studying to become a social worker. His effort to escape the rejection in his community left him, at one point, homeless and lost in a new city.

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