



Our lives now
Searchlight New Mexico photographer Don Usner documents the most essential stories in New Mexico. See more photos here.
August 23, 2018
College-focused charter network eyes New Mexico
EL PASO, Texas – The kindergarteners of IDEA Edgemere walked quietly single-file down the hall, their uniforms embroidered with the school logo, left hands behind their backs, right fingers over their lips. Shh. Emblazoned on the wall above their heads, a sign read: “We do whatever it takes.”
August 16, 2018
Charter schools target New Mexico’s at-risk students
Sara Tafoya never pictured herself as one of New Mexico’s at-risk students. She came from a supportive, college-educated family in Albuquerque, had once earned good grades, and entertained dreams of going to college and becoming a physical therapist.
But in her sophomore year, Tafoya “attracted bad situations,” skipping classes – sometimes for weeks at a time. By the time she found out she was pregnant at age 15, she faced a hurdle that typically derails a girl’s education.
August 2, 2018
Native communities harnessing the power of data
Like indigenous peoples around the world, they are today reclaiming their place as data researchers.
August 2, 2018
Where trust counts: The census and NM’s border cities
In the last 10 years, so much has changed in Sunland Park and elsewhere along the border that observers are girding themselves for what may prove to be a damaging undercount in the 2020 census.
August 2, 2018
Underfunded, undercounted: New Mexico at risk in 2020 census
July 18, 2018
For contracts, New Mexico increasingly looks elsewhere
A Searchlight investigation finds billions of taxpayer dollars have flowed out of state since 2013 due to government purchases that are not filled — or cannot be filled — by New Mexico companies.
July 18, 2018
Here’s how we learned where New Mexico’s vendors are located
The data don't exist in an easy-to-grasp form, so we decided to create and share it.
July 18, 2018
New Mexico is ignoring its own rules on vendor transparency
Legislators have been pressing the state to clarify where contract dollars flow.
July 10, 2018
New Mexico lawyer faces death threat over work for immigrants
What happened to Allegra Love and her colleagues, experts say, is a terrifying example of the open threats and unrelenting hostility that immigrant advocates have begun to face nationwide.
July 5, 2018
Brain Drain: Graduates leaving New Mexico behind
No state can afford to lose high-quality, educated workers, the key ingredient for a thriving economy.
Empowering the public
Searchlight New Mexico is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization dedicated to investigative and public service journalism in the interest of the people of New Mexico. Our mission is to deliver high-impact investigative reporting to inspire New Mexicans to demand action on systemic problems that plague our state. We believe that great reporting can motivate all New Mexicans to confront racial and economic inequities, government corruption and negligence, and abuses of power.
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Dedicated to investigative reporting and innovative data journalism, your donations help make a difference.
Support investigative journalism
Dedicated to investigative reporting and innovative data journalism, your donations help make a difference.

State of hope. State of mind.
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