Latest news with #MichaelHunn
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Yahoo
KRQE Newsfeed: Feds contact church, Robbers sentenced, Breezier and drier, Offenders escape, Orbit awarded
Endangered Mexican wolf tracked roaming north of I-40, what to do if you see it What's happening around New Mexico March 28-April 3 Sandia National Labs working with Albuquerque police to fight crime Youth leaders in northern NM work to issue grants to community organizations Witness shares experience of helping shooting victim in Las Cruces World championship triathlon expected to bring tens of millions of dollars to Ruidoso The Latest: Major earthquakes strike Myanmar and Thailand [1] Albuquerque church gets letter from Homeland Security over El Paso shelter – Bishop Michael Hunn of the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande said the Albuquerque church has operated a shelter in El Paso for the last few years in partnership with Border Patrol. He said agents would bring migrants to the shelter who claimed asylum and passed credible interviews while they await a court hearing. The partnership with the government is why the church was shocked when it received a letter from the U.S. Department Of Homeland Security expressing concern of 'illegal activities' at the shelter. The letter also accuses the shelter of 'harboring' or 'shielding' 'illegal aliens' from authorities. The letter also asks church leadership to sign an affidavit saying they have no knowledge of illegal activity and to hand over the names and addresses of people they helped. The church is speaking with attorneys and others within their network who received the same letter to see how to proceed [2] Pair involved in robbery turned murder in Albuquerque sentenced – Two people who were involved in a robbery gone wrong, leading to a man being murdered, were sentenced for their crimes Thursday afternoon. Samantha Shull and Jeffrey Contreras showed up at Mario Delgado Jr.'s trailer near Wyoming Blvd. and Zuni Rd. in February 2021. They demanded money, and then Contreras shot him three times, killing him. Shull was sentenced to ten years for her crimes. Judge Brit Baca gave her a light sentence for testifying against Contreras. He was sentenced to life for Delgado's murder with an additional 15 years for the other crimes. [3] Dustier & warmer weather out east, cooler in western NM – Southwesterly winds will pick up a little Friday afternoon, especially in western New Mexico where gusts up to 40 mph are possible. This will bring in drier air and an elevated fire danger across the state. It will also bring in even warmer temperatures across New Mexico as well. Breezy to gusty winds are going to be the story for the next several days starting Friday. A cold front moves in Friday evening, bringing high temperatures back down to around average for this time of year this weekend. [4] ABQ Crime Stoppers searches for duo who removed electronic monitoring devices – Authorities are asking the public for help as they search for two offenders they say are on the run. According to Crime Stoppers, Antonio Serna and Mary Maes removed their ankle monitors and fled from a halfway house. If you know where they are or have any information, contact Crime Stoppers by calling 505-843-STOP. [5] Orbit named Best Minor League Baseball Mascot by USA Today – Albuquerque Isotopes mascot, Orbit, won USA Today's Best Minor League Baseball Mascot Championship. Last year, Orbit made it to third place, but this week, Orbit was named top dog. Orbit himself issued a statement saying, 'Thanks to all the fans for spreading the love and getting folks from all across the country to vote for me.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Albuquerque church gets letter from Homeland Security over El Paso shelter
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande is getting in caught up in the crosshairs of politics at the border. Story continues below Crime: Video – Stolen vehicle driver totals APD vehicle in crash with officer NM Film: 'Rust' trailer released more than three years after fatal on-set shooting Sports: Rio Rancho fires boys basketball coach after 16 years Bishop Michael Hunn of the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande said the Albuquerque church has operated a shelter in El Paso for the last few years in partnership with Border Patrol. He said agents would bring migrants to the shelter who claimed asylum and passed credible interviews while they await a court hearing. 'We'd give them hot food and a hot shower and often, this was the first time where they really felt safe in months,' said Bishop Hunn. The partnership with the government is why the church was shocked when it received a letter from the U.S. Department Of Homeland Security expressing concern of 'illegal activities' at the shelter. 'We were both surprised and really saddened to see our ministry and partnership with the Department of Homeland Security so mischaracterized,' said Bishop Hunn. The letter also accuses the shelter of 'harboring' or 'shielding' 'illegal aliens' from authorities. 'Everyone who came to our shelter was legally present in the United States, they were all claiming asylum, and literally they were brought to us by the Border Patrol,' said Bishop Hunn. The letter said the shelter is at risk of losing reimbursement funds FEMA gives it. Bishop Hunn said that reimbursement has been about $40,000 over the course of nearly three years. The letter also asks church leadership to sign an affidavit saying they have no knowledge of illegal activity and to hand over the names and addresses of people they helped. 'What's confusing about that is they literally brought us all those people, gave us their names, and all the addresses,' said Hunn. The church is speaking with attorneys and others within their network who received the same letter to see how to proceed. Meanwhile, they cite their constitutional right to practice their religion freely. 'We remain deeply committed to following Jesus Christ. And for us, that means helping our neighbor without judging who they are,' said Bishop Hunn. 'We are trying to be a good neighbor, a loving neighbor, a compassionate neighbor; not a neighbor who has to check ID before we decide whether you're worthy of our help.' KRQE News 13 reached out to HSI for comment, but have not heard back. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
22-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
N.M. bishop denies federal accusations of unlawful activity at El Paso shelter
New Mexico's Episcopal bishop is pushing back against allegations a migrant shelter the diocese operates in El Paso may be facilitating "illegal activities," an accusation he says is entirely baseless. "The Episcopal Church is not involved at all in illegal activities," the Rev. Michael Hunn, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande, said in a Monday interview. "Everything we did was legal, and every person we received came to us from the Border Patrol — they drove them to us, in fact." The diocese encompasses New Mexico and far West Texas, territory spanning 40% of the U.S.-Mexico border. For the past several years it has operated a shelter for asylum seekers in El Paso as part of its Rio Grande Borderland Ministries. The Department of Homeland Security recently froze funding it has been providing to the shelter through a grant program and insinuated it had been encouraging people to cross the border illegally, an allegation the diocese denies. DHS letter The shelter is part of a network of shelters for migrants along the Texas-Mexico border including Catholic shelter Annunciation House and others. It can only serve 25 people at a time, and initially started as overflow from the larger migrant shelters in the network. Over time, Hunn said it became a place largely for families and LGBTQ migrants "because not all of the partners in the network were as comfortable with LGBTQ people as as we are in the Episcopal Church." Since operating, it has served about 1,700 people in a short-term capacity while they made their way to their final destination. In a Monday interview, Hunn emphasized the people who stayed at the shelter were transported there by immigration officials. "We were not encouraging people to cross the border," he said. "These were people that had claimed asylum in the United States ... and the Border Patrol brought them to our shelter." When not housing migrants the shelter also serves as space for a borderland pilgrimage ministry the diocese operates for people to come and learn about life on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. The shelter was initially funded entirely by donations but was later invited by the Biden administration to join the Department of Homeland Security's Shelter and Services Program, which allowed it to be reimbursed for some of its expenses. Hunn said the money went towards things like tacos and lasagna: "This was not a high-dollar operation by any stretch." On March 11, the diocese received a letter from the Federal Emergency Management Agency stating it was temporarily withholding payments to the shelter under its previously awarded grants and stating Homeland Security had "significant concerns" that funding was "going to entities engaged in or facilitating illegal activities." "The Department is concerned that entities receiving payment under this program may be guilty of encouraging or inducing an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States in violation of law," the letter continued. The letter asked for documentation from the diocese about the people it had served and for representatives to sign an affidavit verifying it had not violated any immigration laws. Hunn published a video to his YouTube channel on March 14 discussing the letter and explaining how the shelter functioned, which he said had always operated in partnership with federal agents. "I'm insulted by the insinuation that we have been involved in anything illegal or immoral," Hunn said in the video, which has attracted significant interest in Episcopal Church circles. The Rev. Canon Lee Curtis, the diocese's canon to the ordinary, said as of Tuesday the diocese was consulting with legal counsel on how to respond to the letter. In total, he said the shelter had only received about $40,000 from FEMA over the course of about two years. Shelter officials had to submit itemized receipts for everything it was requesting to be reimbursed for by the federal agency, and he said they were carefully reviewed every time for accuracy. "Every reimbursement was scrutinized individually, which adds to the confusion around what they're insinuating," he said. The letter stops short of accusing the diocese of any specific wrongdoing, and Curtis said he believes most shelters in the network received the same message. In response to an email inquiry from The New Mexican asking whether specific incidents prompted the letter, the FEMA national press office provided a statement on behalf of a "senior DHS official." "Secretary Noem froze grant funding to NGOs where the grant touches immigration," the statement said. "The Biden administration spent hundreds of millions of dollars resettling illegal aliens in our country on American taxpayers dime. We will not give taxpayer dollars to NGOs who facilitate illegal immigration." Curtis said that after years of working hand-in-hand with immigration officials, it was hurtful to be accused of doing something wrong. "We took great pains to ensure everything we were doing was legal and for folks who were legally present in the country," he said, adding that every person who stayed at the shelter had their documents verified. "It's really disappointing to see the administration take this approach." The shelter is currently not housing any migrants, as since December Hunn said the number of migrants reaching the border has been very low. However, he said the diocese is prepared to operate the shelter without any government support. He added the diocese has a constitutionally protected right to practice its religion and that operating the migrant shelter is one part of how it follows Jesus' commandment to welcome strangers. If the government tries to stop churches caring for those in need, he said, that would be a violation of the First Amendment. "The Christian faith is not just about going to church, it's not just about reading the Bible," Hunn said. "Jesus says that every time we care for the least of these, every time we care for someone in need, we are in fact caring for Christ Himself — and it's important that we do that."
