Vasquez pledges to fight, looks to 2026

Those of us who seek to preserve democracy in the United States need Democrats in Congress to fight like hell right now.

U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez didn’t disappoint during a town hall in Las Cruces on Tuesday.

Vasquez represents a swing district in Southern New Mexico that Donald Trump also won in 2024. As he looks to re-election next year, he could be avoiding criticizing a president who is dismantling federal agencies, social safety nets and civil liberties.

Instead, Vasquez appeared grounded in concern for the people he represents and ready to fight. He was also clear about the limits of what House Democrats can accomplish right now.

“As long as Republicans are aligned, they can pass anything through the House, through the Senate, send it up to the president to sign, with very little protest from us,” Vasquez said. “It is very tough for me to not be able to do more to help stop the agenda of Project 2025.”

He spoke about Congress, not the president, having authority over spending, and lamented that his Republicans colleagues are ceding that power to Trump.

“If Republicans want to go run for Congress and give up their authority, their power, to a dictator, they can do that,” he said. “They’ve shown they’re willing to do that. It’s a shame.”

‘Is this what people really voted for?’

More than 300 people attended Tuesday’s town hall at Doña Ana Community College on Las Cruces’ east mesa. Most questions from the friendly crowd were about the Trump Administration’s rapid and forceful actions that threaten people’s livelihoods and lives.

Vasquez said he has signed on to amicus briefs and is looking to the courts to slow Trump’s authoritarian power grab. Because Democrats don’t have the votes override what Republicans are doing now, it’s essential that Democrats win back Congress in 2026, he said.

All of us must be in conversation with friends and family about what’s happening and speaking out in other ways, like writing letters to be published in newspapers, he said.

Trump won N.M.’s Second Congressional District last year — but now, Vasquez said, folks’ retirement savings accounts are losing value and our nation is turning on its allies.�

He asked people to challenge the Trump voters in their lives: “Is this what people really voted for? Is this what you’re going to continue to support?”

He pledged investigations into the reasons behind Trump’s tariffs and other suspect actions once Democrats are in the majority and armed with subpoena power.

“I know 2026 seems like it’s far away, but right now we are laying the foundation for making sure we can hold this administration accountable in 2026,” Vasquez said.

Harming NMSU

Vasquez spoke several times about the ways in which the Trump Administration is harming New Mexico State University, including cutting funding for research and revoking the legal status of a handful of students. Vasquez, an NMSU graduate who was editor of the campus’ student newspaper, said it’s “outrageous” that immigration enforcement agents are targeting students across the nation who exercise their right to free speech.

“This is going after folks that are brown and black, that have spoken out for Palestine, that have come to this country and decided that they want to make a difference in this country,” he said. “… We all deserve to have a right to free speech.”

He pledged a congressional review of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 and other arcane laws if Democrats retake Congress, calling using that law to deport folks today “a complete abuse of power.”

Vasquez also criticized cuts to research funding for NMSU and other institutions. He spoke about New Mexicans who earn degrees to work in fields like regenerative agriculture, where they can help farmers continue to produce food with less water. He mentioned a weather station on NMSU’s Jornada Experimental Range that’s being eliminated.

“There’s so much that goes into these research dollars that counts so much for our economy and who we are as New Mexicans,” Vasquez said.

Bringing Abrego Garcia home

Vasquez was asked what Congress can do to bring home Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, who the Trump Administration wrongly sent to a prison in El Salvador. Trump is thus far refusing to comply with direction from the U.S. Supreme Court to bring Abrego Garcia home.

“I am fully and wholly invested in making sure that Kilmar returns to the United States,” Vasquez said. He criticized Trump’s “cowardice” for refusing to bring him back.

He said Democrats in the House would attempt to bring Abrego Garcia home but likely won’t have support from any Republicans — which, again, will halt efforts in Congress because Republicans are in the majority.

So Democrats are planning “course correction on this” in other ways, Vasquez said. He declined to provide details, saying he didn’t want to get ahead of his caucus and leadership.

“But I can promise you that we are going to fight 1,000 percent against this,” Vasquez said. “It is disgusting that the abuse of power from this administration allows somebody who is legally and lawfully in this country to be shipped away and put in these terrible conditions.”

If Trump succeeds, Vasquez said, “eventually it will be our neighbors. It will be any of us. … Think about that.”

After the town hall, Vasquez told me to expect “public demonstrations,” but declined to say whether he was part of a group of House Democrats who were, according to Axios, planning a trip to El Salvador.

Will we have another election?

One person who attended Vasquez’s town hall expressed fear that there won’t be another election — and an opportunity for Democrats to take back power. Vasquez acknowledged the concern, saying things have already gotten much worse than he thought possible.

“I didn’t think we’d get to this place,” Vasquez said, adding that he can’t be certain “that this administration wouldn’t do something to jeopardize the current electoral system that we have in this country.”

“I, too, am worried, just the same way you are, about free and fair elections,” Vasquez said. He added that New Mexico has a strong election system.

“I’ll continue to defend it as long as I am here,” he said.

Finding hope

Vasquez said he still finds reason for hope. He wakes up most days on Capitol Hill listening “to the very annoying garbage trucks and ambulances and police cars that usually at about 5 a.m. or so start going off” — but he thinks about the sun rising over the Organ Mountains, and the people who live here, and those who are looking to make a difference. He said New Mexicans give him hope.

“We are a resilient people,” Vasquez said. “We are a state that is deep in our history, especially with our Native American groups… who were here before we even became part of the United States.”

If you’ve been reading my columns, you know this resonates with me. People we call New Mexicans today have outlived the empires that colonized these lands before the United States existed.

Our strength is in our history. It’s in our grit and determination. It’s in our willingness to work together for a common purpose. It’s in our reliance on our land and water and the sustenance it provides. It’s in our wide, blue skies and the air we breathe.

It’s in our people whose ancestors who have survived colonization and today give us a shared knowledge of such history and resilience.

It’s in us. It is us.

Thanks for fighting for us, Rep. Vasquez. Keep it up.