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November 23, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – New Mexico Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham admitted Friday that the state cannot actually enforce its limits on Thanksgiving gatherings in the name of public health, yet hopes residents will voluntarily comply anyway.

“You can’t enforce that,” Grisham acknowledged to PBS NewsHour’s Amna Nawaz, as highlighted by Breitbart. “There is no way, anywhere in the country, we’re going to be able to say, look, you brought another household together. There (were) 10 of you having Thanksgiving dinner. But we are hopeful that people will really take heed.”

Last week, the governor’s office declared that “mass gatherings,” defined as a “group of more than five individuals who do not regularly reside with one another,” were – “strictly prohibited,” though Grisham now concedes the prohibition is largely symbolic. But the state also imposed new restrictions it presumably can enforce, including a mandate that only “essential” businesses allow people into their doors, and that all others “should be operating in a remote or curbside-only manner to reduce person-to-person contact.”

In place of traditional family gatherings, Grisham’s office suggests New Mexico residents “connect with friends and relatives over a video chat service” and “share recipes, cooking time and time at the table remotely and safely.” For “small gathering(s) with household members,” it suggests facemasks, social distancing, and “setting up a table outside so as to minimize the person-to-person interactions indoors” (outdoor temperatures are dropping across the country, as late November verges on the winter season).

Various state and local leaders have threatened crackdowns on Thanksgiving gatherings in the name of containing COVID-19, partly taking cues from controversial infectious disease specialist Dr. Anthony Fauci, who said last month that Americans “may have to bite the bullet and sacrifice that social gathering, unless you’re pretty certain that the people that you’re dealing with are not infected.” Various local law enforcement agencies have announced they will not enforce such crackdowns in their own jurisdictions.

At the same time, eyes are closely watching these leaders to see who follows or disregards their own dictates in their own holiday plans.