The New Mexico Department of Justice (DOJ) filed lawsuits last month against two counties for violating the Immigrant Safety Act, a landmark piece of legislation prohibiting local governments and law enforcement from cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The lawsuits allege that Curry and Torrance counties are disregarding the new state law by continuing to facilitate “287(g)” agreements with ICE, which are voluntarily agreed upon contracts that deputize local sheriffs to assist with federal immigration enforcement.
Curry and Torrance are the only counties in New Mexico that continue to have these types of agreements between local law enforcement and ICE. These “287(g)” agreements between local law enforcement and ICE have led to at least three non-citizens being detained in New Mexico, none of whom were convicted of any crimes.
The complaints filed by the New Mexico Department of Justice claims that since the Immigrant Safety Act went into effect on May 20, Curry and Torrance counties have continued to uphold agreements with ICE that allow local law enforcement to serve immigration warrants and transport people to privately-run detention centers.
Torrez is asking for district courts to terminate the agreements between the two counties and ICE, as well as “declare that local officials lack authority to arrest or detain individuals solely on the basis of civil immigration status or administrative immigration warrants.”
Both Curry County Sheriff Michael Brockett and Torrance County Sheriff David Frazee have publicly boasted about continuing to uphold the “287(g)” agreements. According to the Santa Fe New Mexican, Brockett said he does “not plan to modify [the] agreement with the federal government,” while Frazee said “I have agreed to work with ALL federal partners, including ICE.”
Long before the Immigrant Safety Act, advocates have called for the Torrance County Detention Center (TCDF) to be shut down. The TCDF is a privately-run detention center owned by CoreCivic. It became infamous for inhumane living conditions including broken plumbing, excessive mold, and unsanitary cells, so much so that the Inspector General’s Office in Washington, D.C. released a report in 2022 documenting “unsanitary living conditions that have led to health and safety risks for detainees at Torrance.”
According to Source New Mexico, approximately 325 people are currently being detained at this facility, including Rogelio Bolufé, a Cuban immigrant who conducted a hunger strike to raise awareness of their conditions.
Last November, US Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-New Mexico) called for the facility to be shut down for a different contractual violation and “the continuing and systemic failures of CoreCivic and ICE to ensure humane conditions for those in detention at TCDF.”
While the New Mexico DOJ’s lawsuits and the state’s ability to enforce the Immigrant Safety Act plays out in court, it’s expected that detentions at TCDF will continue, as ICE has already announced its proposal to cut out the county and contract directly with CoreCivic.
