During a Q&A style conversation at the University of New Mexico Law School on Monday, April 27, Law Students spoke to New Mexico gubernatorial candidate from the Pueblo of Laguna Deb Haaland about a variety of topics including data centers, economic stimulus, healthcare and the Israel and Palestine conflict.
Haaland opened her remarks by recalling her “depression and frustration” over not passing the bar exam after graduating from the UNM Law School.
“You do all the work, and the Creator makes you take a sharp right turn or a left turn, and you have no clue why,” Haaland said. “I feel very strongly that if I had passed my bar exam, I wouldn't be standing here as the Secretary of the Interior.”
Deb Haaland served as the United States Secretary of the Interior during the Joe Biden administration from 2021-25.
When students asked how she would balance economic stimulus with social programs, Haaland said the best way to ensure New Mexicans can afford to live is by putting more money in their pockets by creating jobs in “sustainable industries,” and raising the current $12.00/hour minimum wage, which she said is only sustainable for people who live with their parents.
In response to a question regarding hyperscale the data center Project Juptiter, an AI data center proposed for Santa Teresa, Haaland said she is “not in favor of any industry that would use a million gallons of water a day,” and that communities should be involved in the decision making.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reported that the two natural-gas-powered microgirds required to power the data center would require nearly one million gallons per day to operate.
“We can't afford that, so guardrails need to be put on data centers. Haaland said. We have precious natural resources and one of those is water. And I don't think New Mexico is in a position with the climate crisis to spend all our water on one industry,” Haaland said.
When an attendee asked Haaland how she would address the shortage of healthcare providers in the state, Haaland said that other sectors including education and crime need to be improved in order to retain doctors.
“People look at the crime rate and they may not agree with crime in certain areas of New Mexico and so they would opt to move somewhere else. So all these things are intertwined,” Haaland said.
During the final question of the Q&A, an attendee said the Democratic Party has been “deaf to the calls,” especially from young people, to “criticize Israel” and to “stop the unending military aid towards the genocide in Gaza,” and asked Haaland if she would be willing to “be a voice for these issues.”
Haaland said that “those aren’t issues that would come up for a governor of a state,” and that she has personal thoughts and feelings about them, and mentioned generational trauma among Indigenous children who were historically forced into boarding schools.
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“(Boarding schools were) the federal government's way of trying to break up our communities and not have any Native Americans anywhere left in our entire country,” Haaland said. “It was wrong then. It's wrong now. We need to care about our children.”
At the conclusion of the conversation, UNM Law professor Ernesto Longa said the Israel-Palestine conflict is an issue for state governors, mentioning former New Mexico Governor Toney Anaya’s advocacy for divestment from Apartheid South Africa, and telling her that “governors do have the capacity and authority to take positions on international issues.”
“I think many people in this room and many people on this campus would get behind you in support in speaking out against the continuation of the genocide in Gaza,” Longa said.
Longa announced United Academics of UNM, affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, endorsed Haaland for governor, and showed support for her educational platform, including tuition-free graduate education.
“So from now until election day, our union will be fierce advocates for Deb as she campaigns for governor,” Longa said.
The event was hosted by multiple Law School student organizations including UNM Law School Democrats, UNM Native American Law Student Association and Law Students Against Imperialism.
Halaand told the Daily Lobo she wants to fund graduate education in a big way so people can “climb the career ladder.”
“Take a teacher, for example. Maybe she wants to go back to school and get her MA so that she can climb the career ladder, do something different. and just be more valuable to our education system,” Haaland said.
Paloma Chapa is the multimedia editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at multimedia@dailylobo.com or on X @paloma_chapa88
Paloma Chapa is the multimedia editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at multimedia@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @paloma_chapa88
