Righting the Record: A Response to the GAO's 2004 Report Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo: Findings and Possible Options Regarding Longstanding Community Land Grant Claims in New Mexico

摘要

In 2004, the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) issued a Report entitled Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo: Findings and Possible Options Regarding Longstanding Community Land Grant Claims in New Mexico (GAO Report), in which it analyzed whether the federal government violated any legal duties to community land grant heirs in New Mexico following the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The GAO Report concluded that the government fulfilled any duties it may have had to grantees and heirs, and that potential remedies for the massive land losses were up to Congress as a matter of public policy rather than as a matter of legal obligation.rnThe following analysis, commissioned by the New Mexico Attorney General as a legal and historical response to the GAO Report, critiques the GAO's analysis and conclusions regarding a number of legal issues, including the federal obligations under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and international law, the extent to which community land grants were properly confirmed by the United States, the legal and historical implications of these misconfirmations, and the breach of constitutional due process guarantees in the confirmation process. The issue of the federal government's role in the loss of New Mexico's land grants is a significant one. This response to the GAO Report aspires to deepen the discussion and illuminate areas that merit Congress's consideration. Hopefully this analysis will help pave the way for meaningful redress for New Mexico's land grant communities, which have suffered terrible losses since the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.