To the State of New Mexico, Local Governing Authorities, and Managing Successors in Interest:

We, concerned community members, the undersigned families, and next of kin of those laid to rest,  at the cemetery historically known as Desert Lawn Memorial Gardens located @ 3770 Silver City Highway NW, Deming NM, 88030, are writing to demand immediate action to end years of systemic neglect, structural decay, and the ongoing desecration of our loved ones' final resting places.

A cemetery is sacred ground. It should be a place of peace, reflection, and undisturbed rest. Right now, due to a total failure of proper management and boundary maintenance, Desert Lawn Memorial Gardens is being treated as a thoroughfare, a safety hazard, and an afterthought.

As the people who love and remember those buried here, we refuse to allow this disrespect to continue.

 The Crisis Facing Our Loved Ones' Resting Places:

Severe Neglect and Safety Hazards - The grounds have been allowed to degenerate into a field of overgrown, choking yucca plants, invasive weeds, and dead, leaning trees. These overgrown root systems are actively encroaching upon gravesites, risking the shifting of headstones, and creating a massive fire hazard to the entire sacred tract.

Desecration by Forced Traffic - Because the central pathway is completely unmaintained and unmonitored, daily vehicular traffic is being forced to drive less than 12 inches away from marked headstones. This continuous heavy traffic causes severe subterranean soil compaction, ground vibrations, and erosion directly over active burial sites. Driving over the dead is a violation of their memory and a violation of New Mexico law.

A Complete Loss of Privacy for Grieving Families - Because there is no structural boundary separating the active burial plots from the adjacent residential property line, mourning families are forced to grieve in full view and earshot of ordinary domestic activity. We have an absolute right to private, dignified, and uninterrupted grief.
 

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Our Demands as Next of Kin and Community Members:
We are petitioning the managing authorities to execute a pre-existing, low-cost solution that completely protects the cemetery's sacred core while restoring order to the grounds. We demand the following immediate actions:

Abate the Hazards (Grounds Maintenance): Immediately fund and execute a professional cleanup of the cemetery to remove dead trees, clear encroaching yucca plants away from graves, and restore the grounds to the "proper order" required by New Mexico statutory law.

Protect the Central Graves (Relocate Traffic): Immediately clear and open the pre-existing southern perimeter roadbed for all non-visitor and residential traffic. This moves heavy, daily vehicles completely away from the tightly clustered headstones in the interior core, ending the continuous risk of grave desecration and soil compaction.

Establish an Ongoing Maintenance Plan: We demand that the managing authority establish and fund a permanent, routine maintenance schedule to ensure these grounds are kept in "proper order" indefinitely, preventing the future accumulation of overgrown weeds, invasive yuccas, and hazardous debris as mandated by New Mexico law.

Restore Sacred Privacy (Install a Boundary Fence): Erect a permanent, solid metal privacy fence along the boundary separating the burial grounds from the adjacent residential parcel and entry. This ensures that visiting families have the visual and acoustic privacy they deserve during moments of deep, personal loss.

We are not requesting any special favors or optional accommodations; we are simply demanding that the state fulfill its mandatory legal obligations to maintain these sacred grounds in proper, lawful order. 

Our family members cannot speak for themselves. We are their voices. We demand that the managing authorities treat this burial ground with the honor, respect, and legal compliance it is due.