ALBUQUERQUE, NM – New Mexico immigrants’ rights advocates denounce recently revealed plans by the U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) to expand immigration detention capacity in New Mexico and other states. ICE’s proposal includes adding detention capacity at existing facilities in Cibola and Torrance counties and detaining people in the Lea County Correctional Facility, a private prison that does not currently hold people in federal immigration custody.
The advocates include Innovation Law Lab, New Mexico Immigration Law Center (NMILC), New Mexico Dream Team, Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center (Las Americas), and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico. The groups emphasize that this expansion is both unnecessary and harmful.
“We should be fixing our broken immigration system, not putting more people in cages,” said Ian Philabaum, director of legal organizing at Innovation Law Lab. “The recent draconian asylum ban has drastically limited the pathways for migrants and refugees to enter the U.S., and there are no current reports of bed shortages in New Mexico. This appears to be nothing more than an attempt to inflate ICE’s budget and line the pockets of giant private prison corporations.”
The Torrance and Cibola facilities have faced criticism for unsafe conditions, including overflowing sewage, lack of medical and mental healthcare, and severe understaffing. Federal inspectors have called for Torrance's closure. Conditions in the state’s prisons, including Lea County Correctional Facility, have received similar criticisms. The ACLU of New Mexico, Innovation Law Lab, NMILC, Las Americas, and other organizations have filed multiple lawsuits about abuses and mistreatment in New Mexico’s facilities in recent years.
“People fleeing their homes in search of safety, escaping conflict and violence, shouldn’t be detained in the first place. Seeking asylum is legal and a human right,” said Sophia Genovese, managing attorney for NMILC. “ICE shouldn't put more people’s health and dignity at risk. Expanding the detention system will only perpetuate further abuse and waste taxpayer dollars.”
“It is long overdue for ICE to shut down the existing detention facilities in New Mexico,” said Zoe Bowman, supervising attorney from Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center. “It is intolerable to us as New Mexicans that people seeking safety and refuge continue to be detained within our state in inhumane and abhorrent conditions. Instead of continuing to subject people to cruel imprisonment, our local elected officials and members of Congress must reject this expansion and protect asylum-seeking individuals and families.”
“Expanding ICE detention in New Mexico will only exacerbate the suffering of individuals seeking safety and protection. These facilities have long been plagued by abuse and neglect, and adding more beds means trapping more people in a broken system that violates human rights and dignity,” said Rebecca Sheff, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of New Mexico. "Instead, we should be closing detention centers down.”
The ACLU National Office recently sued ICE for lack of transparency regarding its detention system expansion plans.
