Final Week at the Roundhouse 2025

This week on New Mexico in Focus, we take one last trip to Santa Fe as the 60-day legislative session wraps up. Politics Correspondent Gwyneth Doland asks state party leaders what legislative priorities did and didn’t make it through during this year’s session.  

High on the priority list for state Republicans this year was a juvenile detention measure that would have made it easier to lock up teenagers for violent crimes. House Bill 134 went nowhere. Gwyneth speaks with state representative Nicole Chavez about the failed bill and her personal perspective on juvenile crime. 

Last week, the U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced agents arrested 48 people in New Mexico it says were in the country illegally. The identities and whereabouts of those 48 remain unknown, as ICE officials have since reported that an undisclosed number of those detained have been sent back to their home countries. In an interview at the Roundhouse with Gwyneth, an immigration lawyer and an advocate speak out against the actions of ICE as they push for a bill to change the state’s relationship with federal immigration authorities.  

Earlier this month, a federal judge ordered Socorro County to pay $2 million to Jessie Chavez, a man who accused jail guards and officials of essentially torturing him in solitary confinement during two stints of incarceration in 2022 and 2023.  Steven Robert Allen, an attorney and director of the New Mexico Prison and Jail Project, represented Chavez. In their one-on-one conversation, Executive Producer Jeff Proctor asks Allen about the case and how solitary confinement is used around the state. 

House Bill 14, an extensive tax package, passed the House last week. The Senate Finance Committee approved it earlier this week – but not without some key amendments. Bill sponsor Representative Derrick Lente tells Gwyneth why he’s not going to support some of those changes. 

In the final days of the session, lawmakers are considering several measures aimed at addressing homelessness by expanding access to housing in our state. Rachel Biggs, a strategist with Albuquerque Healthcare for the Homeless, tells Gwyneth why she believes these bills could strengthen communities around New Mexico. 

Host: Lou DiVizio 

Segments: 
State Party Leaders Reflect on 2025 Legislative Session 
Correspondent: Gwyneth Doland 
Guests: NM Rep. Rebecca Dow, R-Truth or Consequences 
NM Rep. Reena Szczepanski, D-Santa Fe; Majority Floor Leader 

NM Rep. Chavez on Failed Bill to Address Violent Juvenile Crime 
Correspondent: Gwyneth Doland 
Guest: NM Rep. Nicole Chavez, R-Albuquerque 

Immigration Lawyer, Advocate Call for End to State Contracts with ICE 
Correspondent: Gwyneth Doland 
Guests: Rebecca Sheff, Senior Immigrant Rights Attorney, ACLU of New Mexico 
Edwin Garcia Castillo, held by ICE at the Torrance County Detention Center 

Solitary Confinement in NM 
Correspondent: Jeff Proctor 
Guest: Steven Robert Allen, Director, New Mexico Prison and Jail Project 

NM Rep. Lente Says Tax Package Will Help Lower and Middle Class 
Correspondent: Gwyneth Doland 
Guest: NM Rep. Derrick Lente, D-Sandia Pueblo; House Taxation and Revenue Chair 

Bills Target NM’s Homeless and Housing Crises 
Correspondent: Gwyneth Doland 
Guest: Rachel Biggs, Chief Strategy Officer, Albuquerque Healthcare for the Homeless