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Somos Un Pueblo Unido (Somos) and partner organizations presented preliminary findings from a report to the New Mexico Legislature’s Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee on how local police departments, county jails, and governments across New Mexico communicate and collaborate with federal immigration authorities, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The report was prepared and presented by Somos Un Pueblo Unido.
Read the full report here.
Photos of presentation and press conference.
Somos, New Mexico Immigrant Law Center, and two New Mexico-based legal service agencies presented this report and other updates on the rising rate of detention of New Mexicans by ICE. The legislative interim committee presentation was followed by a press conference in the Capitol Rotunda with Senator Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, Representative Cristina Parajón, community members, and representatives from partner organizations.
Through public records requests under New Mexico’s Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA) and testimony from community members, Somos documented communications and cooperation between local agencies and federal immigration authorities, including the sharing of personal information, jail records, and release dates. The findings also raise concerns about informal collaboration, inconsistent local policies, and limited public oversight.
The findings are preliminary because several counties have requested extensions or refused to comply with IPRA mandates, requiring further legal action by Somos. The investigation identified challenges obtaining public records and determining how local taxpayer dollars and resources are used in connection with federal immigration enforcement. In Socorro County, for instance, records show that the sheriff’s office forwarded a public records request to federal authorities for guidance, raising questions about transparency and accountability under New Mexico law.
For more than 30 years, community advocates and local officials have helped establish more than two dozen policies protecting immigrant families across New Mexico. Recent state laws have strengthened these protections, but gaps remain.
Without uniform statewide rules, families may face different practices depending on where they live, work, or travel. Fear of immigration enforcement can discourage people from driving to work in another county, shopping in neighboring communities, accessing healthcare and medical visits, sending children to school, or reporting crimes. These concerns affect public safety, community health, local businesses, and New Mexico’s economy.
Somos Un Pueblo Unido, El CENTRO de Igualdad y Derechos, Semilla Project, Comunidades de Fe en Acción (CAFé), New Mexico Immigrant Law Center (NMILC), and Contigo Immigrant Justice are calling for statewide legislation that establishes clear limits on the use of local government employees, facilities, funds, and other public resources to facilitate federal civil immigration enforcement.
The findings will help guide a statewide campaign ahead of the 2027 legislative session, focused on strengthening transparency, accountability, and uniform protections across New Mexico.
Statements from Legislators and Community Organizations:
NM Senator Antoinette Sedillo López said: “Since the founding of this country and under our constitution, control of immigration has been a federal matter and has been enforced by the federal government. When states and local governments get involved with immigration, our communities lose trust. Victims might not report crimes immigrants may not go out and shop for their families; sick individuals may not get needed medical care. This is a ripple effect throughout our communities that makes them less secure, less economically viable and less healthy.”
NM State Representative Cristina Parajón stated, “Right now New Mexicans are struggling. They can’t afford groceries, they don’t feel safe, they can’t afford their rent. Yet, some local governments are using a portion of local taxpayer dollars to subsidize the federal government’s ICE activities in our State. Our local governments should be funding the construction of housing for us, funding our public safety services, and funding our community center activities; and not using our resources to help out the Feds. That is why we need uniform statewide standards and provide equal protection for all communities.”
“For 25 years, community advocates, city councilors, county commissioners, law enforcement officials, and legislators in New Mexico have worked together to pass more than two dozen local policies protecting immigrant families,” said Marcela Díaz, Executive Director of Somos Un Pueblo Unido. “These protections have made a difference in public safety, but families should not have to worry about crossing county lines to get to work, shop, see a doctor, or visit a family member. We need consistent statewide rules so everyone can travel freely, access services, and feel safe in their communities.”
“Collaboration with ICE doesn’t always happen through a formal agreement. Sometimes it’s an email, a phone call, or information shared by a local employee,” said Gabriela Ibañez Guzmán, Staff Attorney at Somos Un Pueblo Unido and author of the preliminary report. “Our investigation shows why New Mexico needs clearer rules, greater transparency, and meaningful oversight. The public deserves to know how local agencies interact with federal immigration authorities and how taxpayer resources are being used.”
Teague Gonzales, Executive Director of New Mexico Immigrant Law Center said:
“Since January 2025, NMILC staff have recorded a suspected warrantless arrest in 242 detention intakes. This was out of 328 of detention intakes over that period in Carlsbad, Roswell, Gallup, Ruidoso, Rio Rancho, and Sunland Park. Those are just a few of the New Mexico towns where our clients were pulled over, asked for identification, and handed to ICE this year. A traffic stop in a small county is now the first step toward a cell in Cibola or Torrance, and nothing in state law says this has to be. For example: a man in Rio Rancho who had lived in NM for seven years with no criminal record was pulled over and asked for his license. He was driven to a store parking lot and handed over to ICE. Nobody broke New Mexico law that day. That is the problem. There was no New Mexico law to break. In another example, one of our clients was driving his work truck from Gallup home to Hobbs when unmarked SUVs pulled in behind him and asked for identification. Two of his children are United States citizens. No New Mexican should have to think about which county line they are crossing to get to a job. There is only so much we can do to stop ICE from coming into our communities. There is nothing we have to do to support them. Every one of these handoffs was a choice somebody made, and none of them was prohibited by law. That’s why we need a uniform statewide policy.”
“ICE’s increased presence in New Mexico affects far more than the individuals who are arrested,” said Jessica Noemi Aguirre, Managing Attorney at Contigo Immigrant Justice. “It affects children wondering whether their parents will come home, workers who are afraid to go to their jobs, families afraid to take their children to school or the doctor. Neighbors are changing the ways they move throughout the state they call home. Since January 2025, ICE has received a funding surge through several pieces of federal legislation, meaning that ICE now has $85 billion dollars at its disposal. We cannot allow cruelty towards immigrants to distract us from the work of building communities we actually want: a state where families can continue to thrive, workers are treated with dignity, children are safe, and everyone has an opportunity to build a future.”
