IMMIGRANT & WORKER DAY OF ACTION: COMMUNITY MARCHES FOR SAFETY, DIGNITY, AND POLICY CHANGE IN WAKE OF FEDERAL AGENT SHOOTING

Over 700 immigrant workers, families, and allies took to the streets in Santa Fe for Immigrant & Worker Day of Action, a march and rally organized by several immigrants’ rights organizations to demand urgent protections from Legislators and the Governor for immigrant communities and working families across New Mexico.

The mobilization comes amid rising national concern over federal immigration enforcement tactics, including the fatal shooting of 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Jeffrey Pretti by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis on January 24, 2026 — the second U.S. citizen killed by federal agents in that city in three weeks. His killing has sparked protests and condemnation and amplified calls for accountability and reform of immigration enforcement nationwide.

The Santa Fe action highlighted the essential contributions immigrant workers make to New Mexico’s economy — from agriculture and construction to caregiving and oil and gas — while pressing policymakers to take action on a comprehensive immigrant protection and opportunity platform. This platform includes passage of the Immigrant Safety Act, a permanent Office for New Americans at the Department of Workforce Solutions, driver and personal data privacy protections, and workforce development investments.See our platform here.

Speakers, community-led chants, and firsthand stories from directly impacted workers, families and advocates underlined both the urgency of these reforms and the human stakes involved.

Following the march and rally, participants met with legislators from across the state lobby visits with legislators to advocate for key pro-immigrant and pro-worker legislative priorities during the current session.

Immigrant workers comprise approximately 11% of New Mexico’s workforce, contributing across key industries and all regions of the state. Yet immigrant communities continue to face disproportionate harm from expanded detention contracts, surveillance practices, and barriers to legal services and economic opportunity.

Recent federal enforcement actions — including deadly encounters that have rattled communities across the country — underscore the urgency of legislative reforms that defend safety and dignity for all New Mexicans.

This year’s Immigrant & Worker Day of Action calls on state leaders to take bold steps to protect families: ending immigrant detention expansion, safeguarding personal data from misuse, expanding access to legal support, and investing in workforce programs that strengthen New Mexico’s future.

“With shootings like the one in Minneapolis, it is now clearer than ever that half-measures won’t protect families or restore trust,” said Marcela Díaz, Director of Somos Acción. “This Day of Action is both a celebration of immigrant workers’ resilience and a call for bold policies that ensure safety, dignity, and opportunity for all working families.”

“It is the moral duty of our leaders and all New Mexicans to protect families and vulnerable people from an immoral federal government that is terrorizing our communities. We know our legislators in Santa Fe will stand with us in this urgent moment to keep immigrants safe and everyone’s data secure,” Sylvia Ulloa, director for CAFe Accion.

“Today, in addition to recognizing the vast contributions of immigrant workers and communities, it is also a rally cry that the State must expand protections. We need only to look at the recent ICE murders for evidence that an out-of-control federal agency is using violence and intimidation to fuel Trump’s deportation machine and funnel billions of dollars to corporations. Safety comes from community, not from fear or force. Today we march for justice, dignity, and safety for all Nuevo Mexicanos.”— Fabiola Landeros, Immigration Organizer, El CENTRO de Igualdad y Derechos

“Everyday we are witnessing ICE become increasingly dangerous while continuing to terrorize communities and tear families apart,” said Tatiana Prieto, policy advocate at ACLU of New Mexico. “Being born and raised in the southern NM borderlands, I know that this is not in alignment with our New Mexican values. As New Mexicans, we take care of our families, friends, and community. We must refuse to enable a system that egregiously violates human rights, due process, and fuels mass detention. Our state lawmakers have a responsibility to keep all of our communities safe. We are honored to stand today alongside our fellow New Mexicans urging the passage of this platform.”

“Immigrant and worker communities are essential to New Mexico’s present and future, yet they continue to face fear, surveillance, and violence instead of protection,” said Carolina Carrillo, Statewide Organizer at The Semilla Project. “In moments like this, the state cannot rely on half-measures. New Mexico must lead by passing the Immigrant Safety Act, protecting personal data, and investing in workforce pathways that allow immigrant workers and families to live and work with safety, dignity, and opportunity.”