SANTA FE, NM – Today, the House Consumer & Public Affairs Committee heard and passed House Bill 9, the Immigrant Safety Act, with a vote of 4-2. This critical legislation seeks to end New Mexico’s complicity in the federal immigration detention system by preventing state and local governments from enabling a system that has consistently harmed immigrant communities. New Mexico’s three detention centers have many well-documented human rights violations, including excessive use of solitary confinement, inadequate medical care, and three deaths in custody since 2022.
HB 9 prevents ICE from using local governments to bypass public scrutiny, blocks state and local agreements to detain people for civil immigration violations, and prohibits the use of public land for immigration detention. New Mexico would be the eighth state to pass this law preventing complicity in federal immigration detention.
By advancing HB 9, advocates and lawmakers are taking a stand against an unjust system that profits from detention and violates basic human rights. The bill now goes to the House Judiciary Committee.
Several advocacy groups in New Mexico spoke in support of HB 9 in the committee, including:
“New Mexican communities should not be asked to contribute their resources—their tax dollars, their water, their people—to keep people locked up and to tear families and communities apart. This is especially critical now, as we are learning that New Mexico detention facilities are being used as direct pipelines to send people to Guantanamo Bay.” Said Tiffany Wang, attorney at Innovation Lab Lab.
"New Mexico should not be in the business of enabling a detention system that routinely violates human rights and due process,” said Max Brooks, an attorney with the ACLU of New Mexico. “Three deaths in our state's ICE facilities since 2022 underscore the devastating human cost of this system. By passing the Immigrant Safety Act, New Mexico can join seven other states in refusing to be complicit in a system that treats our immigrant neighbors—who are integral parts of our communities as family members, friends, and coworkers—with such profound disregard for their basic dignity and safety."
“New Mexicans have shown that immigrants are welcomed here. Our state, on the other hand has unfortunately lagged by allowing private immigrant detention companies to grow in our communities. By passing the Immigrant Safety Act, New Mexico will step away from contributing to a system that disregards human rights and a step towards dignity.” - Andres Esquivel, Campaigns Manager at New Mexico Dream Team
“There is no jail, prison, or detention center in the country that is safe for queer and trans people. This is especially true when ICE skirts the basic protections afforded by federal oversight through these private prison contracts. We believe it is far past time for New Mexico to end our participation in these human rights standards by closing this loophole!” said Marshall Martinez, Executive Director at Equality New Mexico.
“The purpose of HB 9 is clear and straightforward: to prevent state and local governments from contracting with ICE for civil immigration detention. Many held in civil detention are seeking asylum or humanitarian relief because they fear for their safety or have faced persecution in their home countries. HB 9 is a necessary step toward protecting human dignity and due process in New Mexico,” said Jessica Martinez, Director of Policy and Coalition Building at NMILC
