Breaking News
Home / News / 1,300 New Mexicans Rally in Santa Fe for Immigrants’ Rights

1,300 New Mexicans Rally in Santa Fe for Immigrants’ Rights

Hundreds of immigrant families and over a dozen organizations marched on New Mexico’s capitol Monday at Immigrant and Workers’ Day of Action, a powerful day of advocacy, resistance, and solidarity. Essential immigrant workers highlighted their invaluable contributions to New Mexico’s economy and demanded stronger protections for immigrant families in the face of daily threats from the Trump administration.

From New Mexico’s southeastern oil patch to the Four Corners region, immigrant workers and youth traveled to Santa Fe to rally in support of several legislative proposals that aim to better integrate the 200,000 mixed-status immigrant families in the state’s ongoing public safety efforts. These bills would strengthen MVD and internet data privacy protections, prohibit local law enforcement agencies from using limited public resources to help ICE deport New Mexican immigrant families, streamline U-Visa certification requests for undocumented victims of crime, and curtail local government contracts to detain immigrants in federal civil immigration custody.

“It’s time to recognize immigrants’ indispensable role in New Mexico’s economy. From construction and agriculture to hospitality and oil and gas, immigrant workers, entrepreneurs, and consumers are necessary to our state’s success. We simply can’t afford Trump’s draconian dragnet.” saidMarcela Díaz, Executive Director of Somos Acción. “Our families contribute over $1.4 billion in taxes yearly and work overtime to generate this state’s oil and gas revenues, funding critical services that benefit everyone. Yet, despite these vital contributions, immigrant communities still face daily threats of deportation and family separation. Today, we are demanding our leaders recognize our essentialness, honor our resilience, and stand united in the fight for justice and dignity for all New Mexicans.”

Day of Action co-sponsor statements:

“We are proud of the vast contributions of immigrant workers in New Mexico and our decades-long legacy of passing policies which are conducive to immigrant integration, economic development and workers’ rights.” statedFabiola Landeros, organizer from El CENTRO Poder y Acción. “These are true New Mexican values! We passed our first Burqueño policies in 2000 and now it is time that we have uniform protections at the state level, so that all Nuevo Mexicanos, including victims of crime, can feel safer in our communities. Immigrant workers are vital to New Mexico’s economy and budget and the State shouldn’t use any of our money or data to fuel Trump’s deportation machine.”

“As a border state, we have a responsibility to support the hardworking people of New Mexico, and that includes ensuring immigrants—who are integral to the fabric of our community—are not left behind,” said Laura Parra, Community Organizer from CAFe Acción. “Workers and their families are not just contributors to our labor force—they are individuals deserving of fundamental human rights, dignity, and safety in New Mexico. Now, more than ever, they deserve stronger protections.”

“NMILC is proud to join our partners to recognize and celebrate the irreplaceable contributions of immigrants to our society,” said Teague González, Deputy Director of New Mexico Immigrant Law Center. “This legislative session, we’re supporting legislation that reflects New Mexico’s long history of welcoming immigrants—our neighbors, families, and friends—and ensures we are no longer part of systems like civil immigrant detention that exploit people for profit. No detention is safe, and New Mexico should not be complicit in facilitating abuses that undermine the safety and dignity of immigrant families.”

“Our neighbors who are immigrants make New Mexico stronger and more vibrant, contributing to our economy and enriching our communities as coworkers, neighbors, and family members,” said Rebecca Sheff, Senior Staff Attorney at the ACLU of New Mexico. “New Mexico has a proud history of standing up to unjust federal actions, and we and our partners will continue to protect our values and defend the rights of all New Mexicans, no matter who they are or where they come from.”

“Immigration is woven into the fabric of New Mexico’s history and values,” saidMiles Tokunow, Executive Director of Santa Fe Dreamers Project. “Today, we, as a community, reflect those values and call on our state leaders to honor this legacy by passing policies that protect immigrant workers and families, ensuring dignity, equity, and opportunity for all.”

Background

Immigrant workers, entrepreneurs, and consumers are the backbone of New Mexico’s economy. Immigrants represent 11% of the workforce and play a dominant role in key sectors such as construction, agriculture, accommodation and food services, and oil and gas.

Furthermore, immigrants in New Mexico contribute approximately $1.4 billionin federal, state, and local taxes annually, helping to fund essential government services like schools, hospitals, and infrastructure, including Social Security, unemployment insurance, and free or reduced-price school lunches.

Check Also

God’s Encouraging Word of the day

“Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits …