New Mexico’s Democratic gubernatorial nominee Deb Haaland was outraged that ICE would arrest a father who had just brought his 11-year-old son to a Santa Fe medical facility — and even more incensed that, after arresting the man, agents left the boy behind at the clinic.
Seeking to stoke public anger, she recorded a video outside the La Familia Health clinic where the incident had occurred last week and posted it on X with the caption, “I will not stay silent while ICE terrorizes our communities.”
Reminiscent of the legacy media’s portrayal last year of illegal alien, MS-13 gang member, domestic abuser, and accused human smuggler Kilmar Abrego Garcia as a “Maryland dad,” Haaland omitted critical context from her version of events:
Hi everyone. Deb Haaland here at La Familia Medical Center. Uh, about an hour ago, I was alerted, we came right over. Uh, we were told that ICE agents had barreled through the parking lot to, uh, endangering people as they were walking to and from their cars, all to arrest, uh, the father of an 11-year-old child.
They left an 11-year-old child by themself in this parking lot, uh, which is absolutely unacceptable.
Luckily, the community launched into action to help the family, and, um, I want you to know that, um, I will do whatever I can to keep our community safe.
As it turns out, the “father” who was arrested, Edgar Chacon-Miranda, is an illegal alien whose lengthy wrap sheet includes charges of criminal sexual penetration (a legal term used in some states — such as New Mexico — to define what is commonly known as rape or sexual assault), child abuse, battery against a household member, and child abandonment.
But the woman likely to become New Mexico’s next governor conveniently left that information out of her pathetic message to voters.
Details 👇🏻 https://t.co/CqODqVyw77
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) August 26, 2026
Least important, but still worth noting, was Haaland’s decision to emphasize the child’s age — twice — in her brief remarks. Yet ICE agents were in something of a no-win situation: Had they taken the 11-year-old into custody along with his father, Haaland could just as easily have accused them of “terrorizing” the boy as well.
Moreover, an 11-year-old is not a helpless toddler. He is old enough to understand what is happening, communicate with the clinic staff, and provide the information needed to contact a family member.
Haaland’s implication that the boy had been left helpless, requiring the community to “launch into action” on his behalf, was simply unfounded.
You may recall that Haaland served as Secretary of the Interior during the Biden administration. Democrats celebrated her historic distinction as the first Native American to serve in a presidential Cabinet.
One of her most consequential acts in that role was imposing a 20-year ban on new oil and gas leasing and development on public lands within a 10-mile radius of Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico in June 2023.
According to Fox News, government watchdog group Protect the Public’s Trust (PPT) filed an official complaint with the Interior Department’s inspector general questioning Haaland’s impartiality and accusing her of “apparent ethical breaches.”
The complaint alleged that Haaland was acting on behalf of her daughter, Somah Haaland, who was “a prominent member of an activist organization that lobbied federal officials seeking to restrict oil and gas leasing in the area.”
The complaint read:
Somah Haaland narrated a film opposing oil and gas development in the region, a film in which Deb Haaland participated prior to her nomination to be Interior Secretary.
During the film, and elsewhere, Ms. Haaland made public statements opposing oil and gas development in this area. Given her past statements, participation in this film, and her child’s active role in lobbying against oil and gas development in the region, reasonable observers could question Secretary Haaland’s impartiality in the matter.
Despite the complaint and the brouhaha that followed, the ban remains in effect today although the Trump administration is currently trying to rescind it.
Earlier that year, Haaland signed an order closing over 350 square miles of the Superior National Forest, near Ely, Minnesota, to mineral and geothermal leasing for 20 years. Fox noted this is “the longest period the department can sequester the land without congressional approval.”
The Trump administration reversed this order in April. However, last week, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz issued a state-level executive order to once again block potential mining efforts in the area.
Regardless of the outcome, both episodes reveal Haaland’s willingness to toe the party line, a tendency that was on full display in her hyperbolic condemnation of ICE last week.
Haaland accused ICE of “terrorizing” her community. But by stripping away the facts that complicated her narrative, she gave New Mexicans a badly distorted account of what actually happened. For someone asking voters to make her their next governor, that may be the most revealing part of the story.
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