FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 14, 2007
CONTACT: Whitney Potter (505) 266 5915 ext. 1003, Cell (505) 507 9898
LAS CRUCES, NM—The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico condemned recent immigration raids by Otero and Doña Ana County Sheriff's deputies in the border towns of Chaparral and Vado today.  The local police agencies are assisting Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to conduct sweeps of immigrant neighborhoods, knocking on doors and checking identification.  Authorities also are stopping motorists and entering private businesses.
The ACLU is investigating multiple reports that sheriff's deputies retrieved children from schools and entered homes without consent or warrants.  The ACLU has filed public records requests with both sheriff’s departments seeking information about the collaboration with federal immigration agencies.
“This is irresponsible policing,” said Maria Nape, Director of the ACLU's Border Rights office.  “Immigrants in these communities may never again trust that they can report crimes to sheriff’s deputies, even if they are the victims.  When local police become border patrol agents, it rips a hole in the fabric of public safety that takes years to mend.  It’s not just immigrants that are affected.”
The raids stem from a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) program called “Operation Stonegarden” which gave New Mexico roughly $1.6 million in support of local law enforcement participation in immigration enforcement along the border.  In total, the four Southwest border states received $12 million in grant awards.
“These raids are symptomatic of the same reactionary policies that have failed to address nationwide concerns about immigration for decades,” Nape said.  “Do we want to live in a country that makes life so intolerable for hundreds of thousands of families who live and work here that they leave? Or would we rather live in an America that brings immigrants out of the shadows of society and enables them to be taxpaying, contributing citizens?

###

Related Documents:

Otero County Complaint

Otero County Sheriff's Office Public Records Request

Request to Inspect Public Records (Dona Ana County)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 23, 2007
CONTACT: Whitney Potter (505) 266 5915 ext. 1003, Cell (505) 507 9898
Albuquerque—Truck driver Anastasio Prieto wants his $23,700 back, and the ACLU has pledged to help him.
On August 8, 2007, Prieto pulled into a weigh-station on NM Highway 54, north of El Paso, where a state police officer asked if he could search Prieto’s truck and if it contained “needles or cash in excess of ten thousand dollars.”  Prieto consented to the search and replied that, while he did not have any needles, he did have nearly $24,000 in his possession.
To Prieto’s astonishment, officers took his money and turned it over federal Drug Enforcement Administration officials.  Border Patrol agents searched the truck with drug-sniffing dogs but found no evidence of illicit substances.
Nevertheless, DEA agents photographed and fingerprinted Prieto, despite his objections, then sent him on his way, without his money and without any criminal charges against him.
Today the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico filed civil rights claims on Prieto’s behalf against three state and three federal officers regarding the incident.
“The government took Mr. Prieto’s money as surely as if he had been robbed on a street corner at night,” said Peter Simonson, Executive Director for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico.  “In fact, being robbed might have been better.  At least then the police would have treated him as the victim of a crime instead of as a perpetrator.”
DEA agents informed Prieto that he will receive notice of federal proceedings to permanently forfeit the money within thirty days.  To recuperate the funds, Prieto will need to prove in an administrative hearing that the money truly is his, and that it did not derive from illegal drug sales.  Agents told Prieto that the process would probably take a year.
“Mr. Prieto doesn’t have a year,” Simonson said.  “He needs the money back now—to pay bills, to maintain his truck.  We’re insisting that the government give the money back immediately and that it purges all records of Mr. Prieto from the DEA’s files.”
ACLU attorneys Cid Lopez, George Bach, and Maureen Sanders filed the suit in federal court.

###

Related Documents:

Prieto Complaint

Couples who marry in Massachusetts cautioned not to expect major change in New Mexico’s treatment of same-sex marriages
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, July 26, 2007 CONTACT:  Whitney Potter, ACLU of New Mexico (505) 266-5915 ext 1003 or Alexis Blizman, Equality New Mexico, (505) 980-3100
ALBUQUERQUE—The American Civil Liberties Union and Equality New Mexico welcomed news today that the Massachusetts Public Health Department recently notified state clerks there that same-sex couples from New Mexico should be allowed to marry in Massachusetts.  The groups, however, caution same-sex couples not to expect the state to recognize their marriages when they return home to New Mexico.
“We are extremely proud of the work of our colleagues who led the charge to secure marriage for same sex couples in Massachusetts,” said ACLU of New Mexico Executive Director Peter Simonson.  “But the change in policy is unlikely to have a significant effect on same-sex couples here in New Mexico.  Same-sex couples have had the option of marrying in Canada and other countries for years now, and while we have made tremendous progress in persuading the state that it’s unfair to deny same-sex couples legal protections for their families, we still have a ways to go before we can expect the state to recognize the marriages of same-sex couples.”
On Thursday, July 18th, the Registrar of the Massachusetts Registry of Vital Records and Statistics, Stanley Nyberg, sent a letter to all city and town clerks on July 18th notifying them to allow same-sex couples from New Mexico to apply for marriage licenses in Massachusetts.  The change in policy was in response to demands from the Gay and Lesbian Defenders (GLAD) who secured the legal ruling from the Massachusetts high court ruling that it was unconstitutional to bar same-sex couples from marrying there.  GLAD argued that a 1913 Massachusetts law barring state clerks from issuing licenses to anyone who was barred from marrying in their home state does not apply to New Mexicans because New Mexico does not have a law specifically barring marriages by same-sex couples.
“New Mexico may very well become a leader in the struggle for marriage for same-sex couples,” said EQNM Executive Director Alexis Blizman.  “But the one thing we’ve learned over the past few years, it that we can’t expect change to happen over night.  This past year we came awfully close to getting a comprehensive domestic partner bill passed, and we are confident we can secure the votes we need to get it passed in the coming session.  And rest assured that we are going to keep working to change hearts and minds until all New Mexicans understand that it’s unfair to deny same-sex couples and their families all of the legal protections and the social recognition that comes with marriage.”

###