Los Angeles Times – February 24 2026 – Los Angeles Times (1)

Earlier this month, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico said she never should have signed the state’s 2019 Comprehen- sive Addiction Recovery Act. “We were releasing, after they were well enough to go home, infants in the care of highly drug-addicted par- ents who were not required to take any service or get treatment for their addiction,” Grisham said. “Now, I don’t know if there’s any better recipe for a disaster in America than that one.” The policy, which was part of what Grisham described as a “pub- lic health” approach to child wel- fare, provided “voluntary plans of safe care” to the parents of infants who were born exposed to illegal substances.

Child protective serv- ices would not be called about these cases because that was seen as punitive. The problems with the law be- came clear immediately. At least 15 babies with these plans wound up dead in 2020 and 2021, two of them within days of their birth, accord- ing to state records. But that is an underestimate of the policy’s harm, because families could also simply refuse to participate, and many of their children are believed to have wound up dead too.

The advocacy group New Mexi- co Child First Network estimates that since the policy was enacted, at least one child born exposed to an illegal substance is dying each month because of abuse or neglect from drug-addicted parents. Causes of death included drug in- gestion, unsafe sleep and parents’ failure to seek medical attention for their often medically fragile in- fants. None of this should have been a surprise. As early as 2021, a report from New Mexico noted, “data show that a high percentage of families are declining services when referred.”

The governor’s of- fice recently asked a judge to re- view these cases before babies were sent home. Of 180 cases exam- ined so far, the judge ruled in 178 cases that the baby was not safe at home.

dent Trump will deliver his annual State of the Union address Tuesday night at a moment of unusual up- heaval, confronting a cas- cade of crises that have left Washington unsettled and his own political standing di- minished early in his second term. When lawmakers gather to hear the president’s agenda for the year ahead, the scene is expected to re- flect an undeterred presi- dent under increasing politi- cal strain. The president is facing a partial government shut- down triggered by his ad- ministration’s aggressive deportation campaign, ris- ing tensions over the United States’ involvement in for- eign conflicts and growing domestic dissent that is fracturing the president’s political alliances and aggra- vating his rivals.

Adding to the turbulent atmosphere is the economic unease in an election year. The president, who a year ago promised to bring down prices for consumers, in- sisted Monday that America has “the greatest economy we’ve ever had” even though public polling shows econo- mic pressures are worrying a majority of Americans. Trump said he plans to talk about the country’s economic successes in his speech, saying “it is going to be a long speech because we have so much to talk about.”

Republicans have re- cently pushed Trump to fo- cus on efforts to lower costs, amessage they see as crucial to help them keep control of Congress. What remains to be seen is how much of Trump’s economic message will be colored by a Supreme Court decision last week that struck down his use of tariffs, a key portion of his economic agenda. In recent days, the president has re- mained defiant on the issue, lashing out at the justicesfor delivering a legal setback on his tariffs, and looking to im- pose new global tariffs in a different way.

Trump said Monday he does not need to seek con- gressional approval to im- pose new levies, even though the nation’s highest court ruled his tariffs cannot stand without the approval of Congress. “As president, I do not have to go back to Congress to get approval of Tariffs,” Trump wrote on Truth So- cial. “It has already been got- Trump facing a slew of crises before address President’s annual speech to Congress comes amid growing political turmoil. [See Speech, A7] By Ana Ceballos MEXICO CITY — A top- secret special forces opera- tion that killed the world’s most wanted drug trafficker Sunday was meant to high- light the Mexican govern- ment’s prowess in combat- ing crime.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: a7cfdfce723f8302
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 15,662,135 bytes (14.937 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• ISBN: 8335291888
• Pages: 31
• Language: English (en)

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