Immigrant Safety Act

  • Status: Active
  • Position: Support
  • Bill Number: HB 9
  • Session: 2026 Regular
  • Latest Update: January 22, 2026
A protest sign that reads "Keep families together"

Summary

Immigrant detention is at the highest level in history, but New Mexico can stand up to the Trump administration’s cruel mass deportation machine by passing HB 9: The Immigrant Safety Act.

What HB 9 Does:

HB 9 would prevent state and local governments from helping the federal government detain people for civil immigration violations, ending our state's complicity in documented human rights abuses in immigration detention.
New Agreements with ICE for Civil Detention

  • Stops New Mexico public bodies from entering into agreements or use publicly owned land to detain people for civil immigration violations.

End Current Contracts

  • Any existing agreements with ICE or other federal entities for civil immigration detention must be terminated at the earliest legally allowed date.

Closes a Loophole

  • ICE exploits New Mexico counties as pass-throughs for no-bid contracts with private detention operators, avoiding scrutiny of their poor safety records.

According to the American Immigration Council, there has been a “2,450 percent increase in the number of people with no criminal record held in ICE detention on any given day.”

States and local governments are key to reducing detention and deportations.

  • New Mexico is not powerless against ICE. States that have passed similar laws have vastly lower rates of incarceration and deportation.
  • ICE is more likely to conduct raids and arrests near existing detention facilities, so reducing detention capacity helps protect immigrant communities.
  • Seven other states have already passed similar laws protecting their communities.

All three of New Mexico’s detention centers have a track record of harm.

  • In 2025, 32 people died in ICE custody, making it the deadliest year in more than two decades.
  • New Mexico’s facilities have years of documented patterns of human rights violations, including excessive use of solitary confinement and inadequate medical care.