ACLU study finds inconsistent immigration policy in N.M.
Report says local, state funds are often used for federal enforcement
Most New Mexico counties and large cities don’t have written policies on whether officials can use public resources to identify a person’s immigration status or whether they can cooperate with federal immigration authorities, says a study released by the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico.
Consequently, local policies are inconsistent across the state, people can be treated unequally within the same jurisdiction, and local and state funds are often used for federal enforcement, says the report written by Santa Fe ACLU board member Rachel Feldman.
The inconsistencies lead immigrants and family members to avoid visiting, traveling through or doing business in certain counties that are rumored to work with federal authorities on immigration enforcement, Feldman said.
“In immigrant communities, they develop a sense of fear and avoidance,” she said. “The rumor goes out and then people don’t want to go to some counties.”
Feldman is scheduled to present the study at a Thursday event organized
by the ACLU and immigrant rights organization Somos Un Pueblo Unido. The groups plan to announce an effort to get the governor and lawmakers to take up legislation that would prohibit local law enforcement from using resources to enforce federal immigration law, as well as push for other immigration-related actions.
The campaign comes after similar socalled no resource legislation was proposed during the last legislative session, but did not move forward.
Feldman said the ACLU is not pressing for lawmakers to take up a “no resources” bill in January when a 30 day session convenes in Santa Fe but instead intends to push for a bill in the 60-day session in 2021.
The study says several of the largest urban centers and most politically Democratic areas in the state — such as Bernalillo, Santa Fe, Doña Ana and Taos counties — generally have immigrant-friendly policies and do not allow local funds to be used for federal immigration enforcement.
But many rural counties, as well as Southern New Mexico cities such as Alamogordo and Roswell, don’t have clear policies, the report says.
Chaves, Sierra, Socorro and Hidalgo counties honor U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement “detainers” — which are requests that local law enforcement notify ICE before releasing certain “removable” immigrants from criminal custody so that federal authorities can take custody of them and remove them from the country.
All told, 84 percent of New Mexico counties, three-quarters of the state’s sheriff ’s offices and six of the 10 largest cities have no written policies addressing immigration status and policing, the study found.
“The state has a hodgepodge of policies,” Feldman said. “You have this chaos throughout the state which can only be remedied by action at the state level.”
State Rep. Angelica Rubio, D-Las Cruces, who co-sponsored a “no resources for federal immigration law” bill in the last session, said Wednesday she believes there could be support for a new bill in the House but that it likely would encounter resistance in the Senate.
She said opponents of the measure argue that such a bill would lead local jurisdictions to lose out on federal funding, but Rubio contested that argument.
“That’s the narrative they consistently talk about,” Rubio said.
Federal courts have blocked some efforts by the Trump administration to withhold money from so-called sanctuary cities that refuse to cooperate with federal authorities on immigration matters.
For instance, courts have prohibited placing immigration-related conditions on Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants, which are the largest source of federal funding to state and local governments.
However, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in July upheld a decision by the Justice Department to give preferential treatment in awarding community policing grants to jurisdictions that cooperate in the enforcement of federal immigration law.