State Senator-Elect Anthony "Ant" Thornton said that New Mexicans "deserve border security" in response to Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham's appearance on MSNBC's Morning Joe program. Thornton made the statement in a November 25 post on X.
"We are going to go after her hard this year," said Thornton. "The people of New Mexico deserve border security!"
The New Mexico House Republicans shared a clip on X of Lujan Grisham's appearance, in which she said: "I need more border patrol agents. We want more interdictions on the drug trafficking and the human trafficking and bringing guns across. We want all of that. I need technology and fentanyl screening and I want cameras. We want all the smart devices and efforts."
Screenshot of State Senator-Elect Ant Thornton's Nov. 25 post on X.
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In response, the group posted on X: "Fact Check: In 4 years, not a single Republican request for border security has been responded to by the Governor’s controlling party."
Two days earlier, when Lujan Grisham shared a link to her appearance on Morning Joe, she said that the state would not cooperate with "any unlawful or unconstitutional deportation plan."
Thornton responded by asking: "So does that mean you WILL cooperate with every lawful and constitutional deportation effort? I just want some clarity on your position. Are you going to help defend and protect the citizens of New Mexico or illegal immigrants?"
In a November 21 appearance on MSNBC with host Jen Psaki, Lujan Grisham responded to President-elect Donald Trump's appointed "border czar" Tom Homan's plans for mass deportations.
"A couple of things. First of all, it’s unlawful. You can’t use the military. You can’t do mass deportations. So any federal administration, you should expect states, and I think you should expect some bipartisan support, not just by the Democratic governors. We ought to be working on making sure that violent criminals and criminal activity is stopped everywhere," said Lujan Grisham.
Thornton was elected to the New Mexico State Senate in the 2024 general election. He is an Army veteran, former aerospace engineer, and former corporate director of strategy with academic credentials including a Ph.D. from Purdue University and a graduate degree from Stanford University.
