New Mexico to prevent ICE operations in the state.
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SANTA FE, N.M. — Lawmakers plan to address several key issues in New Mexico and Democrats want that to include action on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Democratic leaders in both the New Mexico House and Senate say they plan to hit the ground running with proposals to ban federal immigration detention operations in the state.
Currently, New Mexico has three detention centers with federal contracts to detain migrants in ICE custody. The facilities are in Torrance, Cibola and Otero counties – and have all faced complaints of human rights violations over the years. One of those instances also resulted in an ongoing wrongful death lawsuit over the apparent suicide of a 23-year-old Brazilian man at the Torrance County facility.
New Mexico’s congressional delegation has made several calls for the end of ICE operations in the state. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham even considered adding an “immigration detention operations ban” to the special session agenda in October.
Now, state legislative leaders say it’s full steam ahead.
“New Mexico should not be in the business of for-profit detention of innocent people. We’re going to move quickly, we’re going to move swiftly. We’re going to move those bills out of the house within the first 10 days or so,” Speaker of the House Javier Martinez said.
Martinez said this year’s proposals will look similar to years past. Past proposals would’ve banned local governments, such as Torrance County, from entering new contracts with ICE – and would force them to end existing contracts.
While lawmakers haven’t filed an actual bill on this, supporters at the New Mexico Immigration Law Center issued the following statement to KOB 4:
“The Immigrant Safety Act sends a clear message: New Mexico will not be complicit in a system that harms people and erodes trust in our communities. We are grateful to the legislators and community partners who have worked over the years toward keeping families together and call on our leaders to pass this critical legislation.”
Republican lawmakers – and even some Democrats – opposed previous attempts to ban ICE detention operations due to the potential loss of jobs and revenue in rural communities.
New Mexico Senate Republican Leader Bill Sharer issued this statement in response to this story:
“Instead of addressing the true causes of New Mexico’s crime crisis, Democrat lawmakers have instead focused their attention on political posturing. The only outcome of “banning” ICE Detention Facilities in New Mexico would be the destruction of New Mexico jobs and economic support for local communities. Furthermore, by disrupting the enforcement of federal law with this virtue-signaling, Democrat lawmakers would enable violent criminals, who are in the United States illegally, the ability to continue terrorizing our neighborhoods. These reckless proposals only shield people like Mahmoud Telfah, an illegal alien from Jordan who was recently convicted in Albuquerque for soliciting a 15-year-old for sex.
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Lawmakers are mulling legislation that could lead to a ban on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention operations in New Mexico.
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