#NewMexit - Secession In The Southwest - #NationalDIvorce
Lea and Roosevelt counties in the US state of New Mexico are seeking to secede and join the state of Texas.
Lea and Roosevelt counties in the US state of New Mexico are seeking to secede and join the state of Texas.
(Stephen Anderson, Mises Wire) - Ludwig von Mises wrote many times that a group of people in a sovereign nation or province should have the freedom to secede from that place to join another like-minded province or nation or become an independent nation. These two counties are part of a growing US movement where people in counties tire of their state’s policies and taxation that inhibit economic growth, lessen individual freedom, issue cumbersome regulations interfering with operation of a privately-owned business and family decision-making. Here is a March 2025 Mises Power and Market article on this topic.
“Republican New Mexico lawmakers have floated the idea of allowing counties to secede from the state to either join another state or create a new state in the United States.” Former New Mexico Republican state Sen. Cliff R. Pirtle of Chaves, Eddy, and Otero counties introduced Senate Joint Resolution 15 in 2021 to amend the state constitution. The resolution died in committee.
According to one source, “On Jan. 26, 2026, New Mexico Republican state Reps. Randall Pettigrew of Lea County and Jimmy Mason of Chaves, Eddy and Lea counties tried to revive the secession path for the state’s counties. The representatives introduced House Joint Resolution 10.” But “. . .the resolution died as it was ‘postponed indefinitely’ in the state’s legislature, which gaveled out of session in mid-February.”
The US Census estimated 2025 population for Lea County is about…