NM AG, activists issue alert about RECA scams

By: SOURCE NM STAFF

Tularosa Downwinders Consortium co-founder Tina Cordova and the NMDOJ on July 29, 2025 warned New Mexicans about scams related to the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act.

New Mexico’s nuclear victims waited 80 years for recognition and the right for compensation under the federal Radiation and Exposure Compensation Act.

It took less than a month for scams to develop targeting those victims.

​RECA — created in 1990 to provide restitution to people sickened by exposure to radiation and uranium — excluded New Mexico’s downwinders and post-1971 uranium miners, expired last year after years of lobbying for expansion by victims and New Mexico’s elected leaders.
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But President Donald Trump signed a two-year expansion and extension into law earlier this month as part of Republicans so-called “Big Beautiful Bill.”

On Tuesday, both the New Mexico Department of Justice and the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium issued a warning that RECA scams have already developed. According to an NMDOJ news release, “organizations and attorneys are soliciting people to file claims with them for a fee, despite the fact that New Mexico will have a legitimate claim submission process and guidance forthcoming.”

The U.S. Department of Justice has not yet announced an official claims process for qualifying New Mexicans. Both U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) last week recently sent letters to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer urging them to issue guidance quickly for RECA given the short two-year timeline for compensation.

“We are grateful to our Congressional Delegation who tirelessly advocated for the expansion of these critical compensation efforts,” New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said in a statement. “New Mexicans who have been affected by these exposures deserve compensation — and they deserve to get that compensation free from bad actors attempting to take advantage of them. We encourage New Mexicans to file claims through legitimate entities to ensure they receive the maximum compensation they are entitled to through RECA, and also to file any reports of suspected fraudulent activity with our office.”

The news release notes that any entity that files a RECA claim on behalf of residents will charge a fee, which is capped at 2% by law, but can increase to 10% if that claim is rejected. Moreover, the state will have official RECA clinics to assist people.

The Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium said it will have official updates online

​“The people of New Mexico have waited 80 years for acknowledgement of the harm they suffered as a result of being overexposed to radiation from the Trinity bomb,” TBDC co-founder Tina Cordova said in a statement. “We hope everyone will be patient a little longer as details of the claim process are developed. Please don’t allow someone to take part of your claim out of fear or some sense of urgency. We will do all we can to assist with the claims process once the guidelines are released.”