NM Gov. Martinez faults Obama, Congress on immigrant surge

Gov. Susana Martinez is blaming President Barack Obama and Congress for the surge in Central American immigrants attempting to enter the country illegally.

The Albuquerque Journal reports (http://goo.gl/EpAuCi ) the nation’s only Latina governor said Tuesday the latest wave is a byproduct of mixed signals on the federal level and “a failure of leadership.”

The Republican says immigrant parents are dropping off their children at the border and are “expecting the federal government to just throw up its hands and let them in.”

Her comment come after immigration authorities opened a temporary detention center in southeastern New Mexico aimed at housing around 700 immigrant women and children.

A rising star within the GOP, Martinez has told her party in the past to tone down its rhetoric around immigration.

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Information from: Albuquerque Journal, http://www.abqjournal.com