“Justice for Kadhim! Justice for Kadhim! Justice for Kadhim!”

When 64-year-old Iraqi refugee Kadhim Al-bumohammed arrived at a local Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office for a scheduled appointment with immigration officials this morning, he was met with an outpouring of support from the community.

More than a hundred people from across Albuquerque came to listen as Al-bumohammed, his family, his lawyer, the ACLU of New Mexico, an Iraq war veteran, and religious leaders addressed the press. Their message was clear: We must all fight back against a nation-wide rise in deportations that are tearing families apart and, in many cases, returning immigrants to countries where they face persecution or death. 

Their message was clear: We must all fight back against a nation-wide rise in deportations that are tearing families apart and, in many cases, returning immigrants to countries where they face persecution or death. 

In the 26 years that Al-bumohammed has lived in the United States, he’s planted deep roots, raising four children with his wife, who is a naturalized U.S. citizen.  He’s also served the country he calls home with honor.  While working at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California for five years, Al-Bumohammed provided soldiers in the U.S. military deploying to Iraq with cultural and linguistic training.

Al-bumohammed’s lawyer, Rebecca Kitson, said her client’s military service puts him at great risk of being imprisoned or even killed if deported.

A visibly upset and distressed Al-bumohammed told the press and supporters that he’s just looking “for fair justice.” His 17-year-old daughter broke down in tears as she expressed fear that her dad would be torn away from her at such a young age.  “I have nothing, but him and my mom,” she cried.

Supporters in the crowd cheered and held signs recognizing Al-bumohammed’s service to the country and demanding that he be allowed to stay.

“Honor loyal service. Don’t deport.”

“Kadhim helped our troops.  Now it’s our turn to help Kadhim!”

“Let Kadhim Stay!”

Our own ACLU-NM staff attorney Kristin Love took to the podium to denounce the arrests of hundreds of Iraqis, like Al-bumohammed, in recent weeks.

“As many as 1,400 Iraqis have final orders of deportation and are facing deportation under this administration to a country where they fear persecution, torture, and death.”

Love also announced that the ACLU of New Mexico has joined a class-action suit first filed by the ACLU of Michigan and the national ACLU seeking to block deportations to Iraq.

“We are asking the judge to give people a lifesaving stay which would allow them to speak with an attorney and appear before an immigration judge so that that judge can determine if those people’s circumstances have changed and if country conditions in Iraq have changed such that it would present grave danger such as persecution, torture, and death for people to be returned to Iraq.”

The ACLU of New Mexico brings this case on behalf of Abbas Oda Manshad Al-Sokaini, a local resident who fled from Iraq in 1996 and found asylum in the United States.

Like Al-bumohammed, Al-Sokaini helped the United States military.  While serving in the Iraqi military, he collaborated with American soldiers by providing information about the location of Saddam’s weapons and ammunition caches.

Today, the Albuquerque community’s show of support for Kadhim Al-bumohammed resulted in a short-term win –his appointment with immigration officials was postponed until further notice. But we must keep up the fight and remain vigilant as the Trump administration doubles down on its xenophobic policies.  We hope you’ll continue to fight with us, New Mexico.

In 2011, now disgraced former Secretary of State Dianna Duran stood before the NM legislature and dropped a bombshell. Duran claimed in open testimony that she possessed evidence that 117 foreign nationals were registered to vote and that 37 had fraudulently cast ballots in a New Mexico election. These records, she maintained, showed that New Mexico’s electoral process was infected with a “culture of corruption.”

Not only were these revelations suspiciously well-timed to bolster Governor Martinez’s pet Voter ID legislation, they threatened the very integrity of our democratic institutions by undermining public confidence in our state’s electoral process. The ACLU of New Mexico immediately filed a public records request demanding that Duran substantiate these serious allegations.

We got nothing. Duran refused to produce the evidence she claimed she had, instead releasing documents so heavily redacted they were rendered useless. The ACLU of New Mexico filed an open records lawsuit, which ultimately forced Duran to admit that she had no real evidence to support her claims of voter fraud. A district court judge ordered the state to pay nearly $87,000 in attorney fees in 2014. 

Though Duran appealed, this past April the New Mexico State Court of Appeals upheld the 2014 District Court Opinion and ordered the state to pay tens of thousands in additional fees accrued in the appeal. More than a year after the court’s final judgement, the Secretary of State’s office settled the final bill a few weeks ago to the tune of $125,000.

$125,000 is a stiff price for New Mexicans to pay for an elected official’s dishonesty.  We hope it sends a strong message to politicians like Martinez and Duran that lack of transparency comes at a cost. But false claims of voter fraud threaten much more than our wallets. They threaten our constitutional right to vote and our ability to participate in the democratic process.

False claims of voter fraud threaten much more than our wallets. They threaten our constitutional right to vote and our ability to participate in the democratic process.

Many states and municipalities across our country have already enacted voter suppression laws that require voters to show a narrow set of IDs or implement unnecessary cuts to early voting. These restrictive laws can make it extraordinarily difficult for people of color, the elderly, low-income voters, students, and people with disabilities to access the ballot.

While it is often assumed that all Americans possess a photo ID, the reality is that millions of Americans lack the narrow category of permissible IDs under these laws often because they cannot afford the costs. This has the effect of excluding lower-income voters from our democracy. Cuts to early voting have particularly negative effects on voters of color, who tend to use early voting periods more frequently, and students, who tend to be in class during regular polling hours. Other discriminatory laws allow for purges of voter rolls and restrictions on third-party voting. 

As we put the Duran case to rest, we reflect on how absolutely essential it is that we remain vigilant about ongoing threats to our democracy. In the wake of the United States presidential election, Trump has made a series of explosive and unsubstantiated claims of national-wide voter fraud much like Duran did six years ago.  Just this past month, he signed an executive order creating a commission on voter fraud and elections which is headed by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, a Duran contemporary who was the architect of Kansas’s draconian voter suppression laws.

In light of these troubling developments on the national stage, our victory over Duran’s attempt to rig the system through voter suppression stands as an example of how we can fight back and win against election day bullies. A healthy democracy requires that all citizens are able to and encouraged to vote, not just a privileged few who are politically convenient to those in power.