WHEN THE SYSTEM'S ON FIRE, DON'T BE SURPRISED IF SOMEONE STRIKES A MATCH

On Sunday morning, March 30, the Republican Party of New Mexico’s headquarters in Albuquerque went up in flames. It wasn’t a massive blaze — firefighters arrived just before 6 a.m. and quickly extinguished it — but the damage was done. Windows were scorched, the front entryway blackened, and three words spray-painted in stark accusation across the facade:
“ICE = KKK.”

No one was hurt, and for that, we’re grateful. We’ll say it plainly: Closer to the Edge does not condone violence, arson, the torching of buildings, or setting anything on fire — including the Constitution. But we also won’t pretend this came out of nowhere.

This is what happens when institutions treat human lives as expendable. When law enforcement disappears 48 New Mexico residents in a week and refuses to say where they are. When immigrant families live in fear of a knock at the door and GOP lawmakers turn that fear into campaign fuel. When political leaders enable state brutality and then act shocked when someone fights fire with fire.

Let’s be clear: setting fire to the New Mexico GOP headquarters was wrong. But we’re not surprised. The system was already burning.

THE ICE COLD REALITY IN NEW MEXICO

Earlier this month, ICE agents raided communities across Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Roswell. Forty-eight people vanished into federal custody. No public names. No access to lawyers. No transparency. The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico filed a human rights complaint, accusing ICE of “enforced disappearances.” If that term sounds dramatic, consider this: families still don’t know where their loved ones are. That’s not enforcement. That’s terror by bureaucracy.

The GOP has been largely silent about this. Instead, they’ve accused progressives of “implicitly encouraging” political violence. But let’s ask: what do they call disappearing 48 people in a state where ICE has already been accused of harassing Native American tribal members?

You can’t cry foul when someone torches your front door if your policies have been setting people’s lives on fire for years.

THE NEW MEXICO GOP’S TRACK RECORD

The New Mexico Republican Party has long supported policies that chip away at the safety net — opposing the ACA, resisting Medicaid expansion, and pushing work requirements that often leave disabled and poor residents without care. They’ve backed school voucher schemes that bleed public schools dry, and their past leadership has flirted with reinstating the death penalty. They champion border militarization while remaining quiet on the abuse of detainees in private immigration prisons scattered across the state.

Let’s not forget: in 2020, someone spray-painted “STILL TRAITORS” on this same building. That was after a former GOP congressional intern was arrested — and later cleared — for vandalizing it. This is the third time since 2017 the headquarters has been targeted. That doesn’t justify anything. But it does raise a question: why does this building keep attracting fire?

CONDEMNING VIOLENCE, DEMANDING TRUTH

Closer to the Edge stands against political violence. We don’t burn buildings. We don’t burn bridges. We don’t burn the Constitution — even when others already have it halfway in the shredder.

But let’s not play dumb. A system that allows people to be snatched in silence, detained without due process, and left to rot in secret — that system invites fury. And when neither party is willing to fully confront that truth, someone eventually does it with a match.

The GOP doesn’t get to play victim while enabling policies that victimize others. And the Democrats don’t get to wash their hands with bland statements while ICE raids continue under their watch.

This is not just about one fire in Albuquerque. It’s about the fire running underneath this country — fueled by injustice, fanned by indifference, and waiting for anyone desperate enough to light the surface.

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