This is your weekly news roundup, which takes a quick look at some developments in government, politics, education, environment and other topics across El Paso.
Ruidoso Fires Rage Amid Flood Watch, 2 Deaths Reported
Two fires in Ruidoso, New Mexico, continued to rage with zero percent containment Thursday, resulting in two deaths and more than 23,300 acres burned.
“I will let you know we’ve had severe damage,” Ruidoso Mayor Lynn Crawford said in a video message on Facebook Thursday evening. “We do have teams coming in with dogs to look for loss of life.”
Crawford also warned of a “severe catastrophic flood watch” overnight Thursday, with showers and thunderstorms forecast for the next few days. He asked people to stay out of the area and let firefighters and other first responders to focus on the fires.
More than 800 personnel from more than a dozen agencies are responding to the South Fork and Salt fires, which ignited Monday, June 17, in what weather authorities called the “peak of the fire season.”
The situation that set up the fires was increasingly “hot, dry, windy” conditions during a significant drought, National Weather Service incident meteorologist Tom Bird said Thursday during a virtual community meeting from Alamogordo.
Incident Commander Dave Gessar said evacuation orders remain in place and asked people to be patient as crews work to ensure hot spots are extinguished, power is restored and the area is secured.
“Our main focus has been really taking care of the community and really trying to get folks back in as soon as we can,” Gessar said, adding that people can expect to start to see containment in “next couple of days.”
President Joe Biden on Wednesday issued a disaster declaration for New Mexico, activating Federal Emergency Management Agency response to assist residents who have lost their homes. Some 1,400 structures have burned, but authorities Thursday said they could not say how many were homes.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday deployed state emergency management resources to New Mexico to assist with response operations, planning, logistics, public information, finance and geographic information systems, according to a news release from the governor’s office.
UTEP Names New Executive Director of Aerospace Center
Shery Welsh, Ph.D., the former director of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, has been named executive director of the Aerospace Center at the University of Texas at El Paso.
She will also serve as professor of practice at UTEP and begin her leadership role at the Aerospace Center on Monday, July 15, the university announced Thursday.
“Dr. Welsh is a national aerospace leader who will take UTEP to the next level,” UTEP President Heather Wilson said in a statement. “Her decades of experience in engineering leadership will help the Aerospace Center reach its full potential in serving the aerospace sector and driving economic development in our region.”
Welsch, who most recently served as director of the Air Force Research Lab Directed Energy Directorate at Kirtland Air Force Base, has 37 years of federal service in aerospace science and engineering, including leadership roles as director of Science and Technology for the Missile Defense Agency and chief engineer for the Airborne Laser Program.
“I am very excited to join the faculty and staff at UTEP,” Welsh said in a statement. “Together we will realize the Center’s full potential to advance aerospace research and engineering and build the aerospace industry into a significant driver of El Paso’s economy.”
The selection comes more than a month after UTEP removed Ahsan Choudhuri from the position following the suspension of a major National Science Foundation defense and aerospace grant whose application process he led.
The grant, which could have meant $160 million for El Paso’s regional economy over the next decade, is under review for some alleged “incorrect statements” on the application. Choudhuri remains employed as a professor in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering. His legal team has said Choudhuri did not include any false or materially misleading statements in the grant submissions.
New Protections for Undocumented Spouses of U.S. Citizens
Undocumented immigrants married to U.S. citizens will be allowed to apply for permanent residency without having to first leave the country under a “parole in place” policy unveiled by President Biden this week. The measure would also apply to noncitizen children younger than age 21 whose parent is married to a U.S. citizen.
“This is a great day,” U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, said in a virtual news conference following the announcement. “These families are now going to get a shot at pleading their case and possibly creating an adjustment of status that will change their lives forever in a possible way.”
Escobar said the measure was guided by her American Families United Act and sets a “parole in place” status for those spouses, allowing them to remain in the country while their cases are heard.
To qualify, undocumented spouses will be required to have lived in the country for at least 10 years. Those who qualify could apply for permanent residency within three years and be eligible for a three-year work permit in the country.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in a statement called the action illegal and a desperate pandering for votes ahead of the November presidential election.
Applications are expected to open by the end of summer.
INM Official in Juárez Fire Deaths Released from Prison
A second official from Mexico’s National Migration Institute, or INM, accused in last year’s Ciudad Juárez migrant detention center deaths was released from prison last week to await his court proceedings while on parole, La Verdad reported.
The man, identified only as Daniel G.Y. in court records, represented the institute’s northwest region in Juárez when a fire broke out at the detention center March 27, 2023, killing 40 migrants and injuring 27 others. He had been detained at the Social Rehabilitation Center, or Cereso, No. 3 in Juárez since April 2023, and was released June 13.
An INM guard who also faced charges in the incident, identified as Eduardo A.M., was released in April. A coordinator with the private security company Grupo Beta, Juan Carlos M.C., was also granted parole but remains in prison because he has not paid his bail, according to La Verdad.
The three are among 11 people charged in the case, most of whom remain jailed: two migrants, INM and private security guards and high-ranking INM officials. INM Commissioner Francisco Garduño Yáñez, who is charged with criminal misconduct for failure to perform his duties, remains free and on the job while the investigation continues. No trial date has been set.
