Latest news with #NewMexicoTech
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
New campaign looks to address overdose deaths in black communities
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The City of Albuquerque is joining the fight against overdose deaths, specifically in black communities. The new campaign, named You Have the Power to Save Lives, launched in the Duke City on Friday to raise awareness about the life-saving power of Naloxone. Federal judge says DHS must restore New Mexico Tech student's visa as lawsuit proceeds New Mexico has reported one of the highest drug overdose death rates in the nation for most of the past two decades. In Bernalillo County alone, officials say there were 70 overdose deaths per 100,000 black residents between 2017 and 2021. Albuquerque joins six other United States cities in the campaign, highlighting where people can get access to free naloxone in those communities. For more information on the campaign, click this link. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Court grants NM Tech student temporary restraining order against Homeland Security
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is named as a defendant in a complaint filed in federal court by a New Mexico Tech student challenging her agency's decision to terminate his student status. Alex Brandon-Pool/Getty Images) The U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico on Friday granted a Ghanaian doctoral student at New Mexico Tech a temporary restraining order so his legal team can continue challenging the termination of his F-1 student status by Homeland Security, ACLU of New Mexico announced. ACLU-NM, which is representing the student — known as K.O.D. in court records —along with Huffman, Wallace & Monagle LLC, on Wednesday filed a motion for a temporary restraining order and a complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico. As Source reported earlier this week, according to court records, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on April 9 abruptly terminated the student's status in the Student and Exchange Visitor (SEVIS) system, placing K.O.D. in danger of immigration detention and deportation, his attorneys wrote. 'Losing my F-1 status puts my education, research, and career trajectory at risk, and I fear being forced to leave the country before I can complete my Ph.D. program,' the student wrote in a sworn statement included in court records. 'This sudden disruption has made me feel vulnerable and anxious, not only about my immediate situation but also about the stability and direction of my life in the years to come.' In a statement Friday, attorney Shayne Huffman said the court's ruling 'reaffirms that every person within our borders, regardless of where they were born, deserves to be protected from arbitrary actions by the U.S. government. The court has recognized that K.O.D., like other international students, cannot simply have his status terminated without notice or explanation. K.O.D. can now continue his doctoral research without the immediate threat of detention or deportation hanging over his head.' According to an ACLU-NM news release, New Mexico universities have approximately 2,000 international students. K.O.D.'s lawsuit against Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons will continue, the release notes, and seek permanent relief. 'Today's ruling sends a clear message that the government cannot arbitrarily target international students,' ACLU of New Mexico senior staff attorney Rebecca Sheff said in a statement. 'This is an important first step toward justice for K.O.D. and potentially hundreds of other international students facing similar situations
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
New Mexico Tech doctoral student challenges Homeland Security's termination of his student status
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is named as a defendant in a complaint filed in federal court by a New Mexico Tech student challenging her agency's decision to terminate his student status. (Photo by Manuel Balce Ceneta-Pool/Getty Images) A graduate student from the Republic of Ghana studying in central New Mexico says the U.S. government's termination of his student status violates federal law and his constitutional right to due process. The doctoral student and research assistant, identified only as K.O.D. in court records, moved to Socorro in August 2023, where he has been studying petrochemical engineering at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, according to court records. He received his bachelor's degree at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in his home country and his master's at the Politencnico di Torino in Italy, his attorneys wrote. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security on April 9 abruptly terminated the student's status in the Student and Exchange Visitor (SEVIS) system, court records state. This means he faces potential immigration detention and deportation, his attorneys wrote. 'Losing my F-1 status puts my education, research, and career trajectory at risk, and I fear being forced to leave the country before I can complete by Ph.D. program,' the student wrote in a sworn statement included in court records. 'This sudden disruption has made me feel vulnerable and anxious, not only about my immediate situation but also about the stability and direction of my life in the years to come.' The student is represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico and Shayne Huffman, an Albuquerque-based civil rights attorney, who on Wednesday filed a motion for a temporary restraining order and a complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico. Both filings name Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting director Todd Lyons as defendants. The motion for a temporary restraining order asks the court to block Noem and Lyons from terminating the student's F-1 student status under the Student and Exchange Visitor (SEVIS) system. 'At the most elemental level, the United States Constitution requires notice and a meaningful opportunity to be heard,' his attorneys wrote. 'No such process was provided here with respect to the termination of student status.' Huffman told Source NM the government hasn't put forward any evidence to justify terminating his client's student status. 'We believe that there can be no more egregious violation of someone's due process than what has happened to our client, and for the other students that this has happened to as well,' Huffman said. As of Thursday, the U.S. government has changed the legal status of more than 1,800 international students at more than 280 colleges and universities, including at least 10 in New Mexico, according to Inside Higher Ed. DHS didn't notify the New Mexico Tech student or his school, his attorneys wrote. He learned about the agency's action against him when the school's international programs coordinator informed him that they had discovered his student status had been terminated. The reason given on the record of termination was 'OTHER – Individual identified in criminal records check and/or has had their VISA revoked,' according to a copy included in the restraining order motion. However, the student has no criminal record, 'without even minor infractions such as a traffic or parking violation,' has shown no violence in the U.S. or elsewhere and hasn't participated in any protest either in-person or online, his attorneys wrote. Huffman said he has never faced any disciplinary action from the school whatsoever. 'It's entirely unclear to us as to why he was targeted,' Huffman said. Source NM left a voicemail for a New Mexico Tech spokesperson, and we will update this story as necessary. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE DHS has effectively disenrolled the student from his Ph.D. program and he can no longer work as a research assistant, which puts him in financial jeopardy because his financial aid, which is contingent on participation in the Ph.D. program, has been suspended, Huffman and ACLU-NM Senior Staff Attorney Becca Sheff wrote. The status termination also prevents him from making progress in his doctoral program and obtaining his Ph.D., his attorneys wrote. Twelve days after the student learned about DHS' action, the school gave him a notice of 'Graduate Contract Change or Cancellation,' saying his graduate contract was being terminated due to 'immigration status currently revoked' by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. His attorneys wrote he likely accrues unlawful presence in the U.S. each day, which threatens his chance of reinstating his F-1 student status in the future. The student is not challenging the revocation of his F-1 visa but, rather, is challenging DHS's unlawful termination of his F-1 student status in the SEVIS system, his attorneys wrote. An F-1 student visa refers only to the document an immigrant student receives to enter the U.S., while F-1 student status refers to students' formal immigration classification in the U.S. once they enter the country, they wrote. The student lawfully obtained a visitor visa to attend a petroleum engineers' conference in the U.S. in 2016 but customs officials didn't let him in for five years. 'Just as the 2016 denial did not prevent Plaintiff from lawfully obtaining an F-1 visa in 2023, it cannot now serve as a legitimate basis for terminating his current status,' his attorneys wrote. The student's research is his passion and he has dedicated his entire life for the last two years to it, Huffman said, having authored or co-authored at least half a dozen publications and traveled the country to present at academic conferences. 'We're a state that's so reliant on energy, and he's pushing forward the research in an area that directly impacts the state,' Huffman said. Huffman said there are other Ghanaian students at New Mexico Tech. The school in October 2023 entered into an agreement with the student's former school in Ghana to strengthen their petroleum engineering programs. 'With all the students that this is happening to, international students ultimately are a net positive for this country,' Huffman said. 'They're here to contribute in meaningful ways. They're here to push research forward in the sciences or any other field. Our country and our state are better off with these international students here making their contributions.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
ACLU files federal lawsuit over revoked visa of New Mexico Tech student
Apr. 23—A New Mexico Tech student from Ghana has sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement after having his student visa revoked. The 38-year-old Ph.D. student, who appears to be the only student at New Mexico Tech to have their visa revoked, was not made available for an interview and was not named in court documents by the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, which is representing the student in the lawsuit filed Wednesday. He instead is listed under the alias K.O.D. The lawsuit seeks to reinstate his student visa and allow him to continue his studies at New Mexico Tech. Nine students at New Mexico State University have had their visas revoked, and several University of New Mexico students have also had their visas terminated, though the university has declined multiple requests to specify a number. New Mexico Tech confirmed one student had their visa revoked earlier in the month but did not respond to an inquiry Wednesday on whether that number has grown. The suit comes during a month in which the Trump administration revoked thousands of student visas at universities across the country as it aims to fulfill a long-standing campaign promise to tighten up the nation's immigration policies. Other ACLU chapters across the country are filing lawsuits on behalf of the students who've had visas pulled. While it appeared initially that many of the international students had their visas revoked for reasons ranging from minor crimes to participation in campus protests against the war in Gaza, K.O.D maintains a spotless record on both fronts, according to his attorney, Shayne Huffman. "He's never been convicted of a crime, he's never even had a traffic citation since he's lived in the United States," Huffman told the Journal on Wednesday. "As far as I can tell, he doesn't really have strong opinions about anything the government is doing, at least with respect to the Israel-Gaza situation. We're at a loss truly about how or why our client was targeted." The lawsuit states K.O.D's visa was revoked for "unknown and unspecified reasons" and that his chances of finishing his research are in "severe jeopardy" because of the decision to "abruptly terminate" his visa. K.O.D is studying and working as a research assistant at New Mexico Tech's main campus in Socorro to get his Ph.D. in petroleum engineering, and Huffman hopes he can keep his client working and in good spirits. "He's co-authored academic research papers, he's presented at professional conferences in the field of energy," Huffman said. "That has a direct impact on New Mexico, has a direct impact on the country, and he's advancing research in the sciences in an area that actually does impact us." Though he has not met his client, who is some 70 miles from Albuquerque, Huffman said he has spoken with K.O.D directly. "He's anxious ... he uprooted his life, received a valid student visa, came here from Ghana, he's a long way from home, and he spent the last two years dedicated to this Ph.D. program," Huffman said. The case filed in Albuquerque's federal district court has not yet received a response, and ICE and DHS did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday. "It's important to remember or realize that everybody in this country is entitled to due process under the U.S. Constitution. It doesn't matter whether you're a citizen or not," Huffman said. "I'm hopeful that the court will recognize that our client was not afforded any process at all."
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
New Mexico Tech student sues DHS, ICE after visa revoked
SOCORRO, N.M. (KRQE) – A New Mexico Tech student from Ghana is suing the Department of Homeland Security and ICE after he said his visa was revoked. According to the lawsuit, the student, identified in court filings as KOD, learned about the revocation from university officials two weeks ago. The visa was not set to expire until 2028. Judge allows New Mexico's lawsuit against Snapchat to move forward The lawsuit says the student, who was pursuing a doctorate in petroleum engineering, had never been arrested or charged with a crime, nor had he participated in any protests. The student's attorney said he was denied due process. 'If the government is going to take any action against you or revoke something like your F-1 student status, they have to give you some sort of process, they have to notify yo,u and tell you the reasons why they are doing that. That didn't happen in this case,' said Attorney Shayne Huffman. Several other international students at the University of New Mexico and New Mexico State University have also had their visas revoked. The American Civil Liberties Union said more lawsuits may be filed. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
