Democratic Governor Suggests Biden Admin ‘Persecuting’ Her State

Democratic New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham can be heard accusing President Joe Biden’s administration of “persecuting” her state in a secretly captured audio recording—but her spokesperson told Newsweek her thoughts on the matter are nothing new.

Lujan Grisham, seemingly while on an airline flight, says in the recording that she is “cranky” with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas because she does not “have a single Border Patrol agent” in Sunland Park, a small southern New Mexico city on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico reached a record high of 249,737 in December 2023. Although border encounters have decreased somewhat early this year, the topic has remained a major focus of political rhetoric as the November presidential election quickly approaches.

The governor can then be heard conveying frustrations over marijuana—which is legal in New Mexico—being confiscated at U.S. Border Patrol checkpoints in the state. Lujan Grisham says that she feels “boxed in” before floating the idea of sending the Biden administration a letter to air her grievances.

“They’re saying that they’re worried about fentanyl so they’re taking all of our cannabis,” Lujan Grisham says in the recording. “And they’ve detained people. [We] never have done that, we’ve just used discretion… the Border Patrol is taking a hard stance.”

“Either we have to adjust it,” she continued. “Or I have to send you a letter saying, ‘You’re persecuting a state, you are not using your discretion, you’re not working with me on immigration.’ And I don’t want to send that letter.”

The recording was shared to X, formerly Twitter, early on Friday morning by user @idontexistTore. It is unclear when the recording was made or who the governor was speaking to.

Lujan Grisham’s communications director Michael Coleman indicated that the recording is authentic in a statement emailed to Newsweek, while also arguing that the “unauthorized and edited” conversation revealed nothing new.

“This unauthorized and edited recording of the governor’s private phone call reflects what she has already said publicly—that she is frustrated by federal seizures of licensed cannabis products in New Mexico, particularly those from small producers,” Coleman said. “She has expressed the same concerns in phone calls with Secretary Mayorkas.”

Newsweek reached out for comment to DHS and the White House via email on Friday night.

While cannabis is legal for both medicinal and recreational purposes in New Mexico, it remains illegal at the federal level and is subject to confiscation by federal agents, including Border Patrol agents.

Later in the recording, Lujan Grisham indicates that Mayorkas had told her the following of marijuana being confiscated in New Mexico: “Oh, who cares, they [cannabis producers] make a lot of money.”

“Well, first of all, it’s patient’s medicine,” the Democratic governor says of Mayorkas’ purported remark. “So, I was really offended by that. Shame on him… If [small producers] lose a load, their business goes belly up. I thought that was really inappropriate.”

The recording concludes with Lujan Grisham saying that she had “held off the press” so far, stressing that she “can’t have” stories characterizing her as “feckless” and willing “to let Biden walk all over her.”