New Mexico Democrats call on Apple, Google to keep state’s name on map

A group of Democratic lawmakers who represent New Mexico urged Apple and Google on Thursday not to adopt President Trump’s proposed renaming of the state to “New America” on their map platforms.

On Sunday, the president shared an image of a map of the state on Truth Social with “Mexico” crossed out and replaced by “America.”

In a letter addressed to Apple CEO John Ternus and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, five Democrats asked the technology executives to publicly commit to keeping the state’s name intact for all users on Apple Maps and Google Maps.

The Democratic lawmakers behind this request included Sens. Ben Ray Luján and Martin Heinrich and Reps. Melanie Stansbury, Teresa Leger Fernández and Gabe Vasquez.

“The United States Constitution does not give the President the power to unilaterally rename a state and an executive order cannot amend New Mexico’s Constitution or change the legal identity of our state,” the lawmakers wrote. “Changing New Mexico’s name would require changing our state Constitution through New Mexico’s own constitutional process.”

Both Apple Maps and Google Maps recently changed the name of Lake Ontario to “Lake America” for users in the U.S. after the president signed an executive order to rename the body of water amid his administration’s trade fight with Canada.

Apple made the change after Trump reached out to the company directly to request this name change, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told Fox News.

The map platforms also changed the name of the Gulf of Mexico for American users to the “Gulf of America” last year after the president pushed to rename this landmark.

“Because of this history, we ask each of you to publicly commit that Apple Maps and Google Maps will continue to identify the State of New Mexico as New Mexico, regardless of what the President posts on social media, what executive order he attempts to issue, or what pressure he puts on your companies,” the lawmakers wrote in their Thursday letter to the company executives.

“Again, the name has belonged to the people of New Mexico since before the United States existed,” they continued. “It should not become a political football to be negotiated between an unhinged President and two of the most powerful technology companies in the world.”

The Hill has reached out to Apple and Google for comment.