News & Commentary
Kesley’s Legacy: Why No Detention is Safe
After three long years of litigation, the private prison company CoreCivic paid a settlement to the wrongful death estate of Kesley Vial, a 23-year-old Brazilian asylum seeker who died by suicide while in ICE custody at the Torrance County Detention Facility (TCDF) in Estancia, New Mexico, in August of 2022.
Latest Press Release
Aug 12, 2019
No line to walk on ABQ panhandling law
In its recent editorial (July 29), the Albuquerque Journal suggests that in the wake of federal judge Robert C. Brack’s ruling that the Albuquerque “Pedestrian Safety Ordinance” violates the First Amendment, the city of Albuquerque can still somehow “walk the line” on safety and free speech.
By Micah McCoy
Jun 28, 2019
Our client was refused an ASL interpreter, denying her the ability to effectively represent herself
Our client, Selene Alverio was denied an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter by the Bernalillo County Metropolitican Court and Judge Daniel Ramczyk during a November 2018 civil dispute hearing. Although Ms. Alverio requested an interpreter approximately two weeks before the hearing, which was well before the court’s deadline of forty-eight hours advance notice, as well as several times during her hearing, all of her requests were denied.
Jun 17, 2019
Anti-Immigrant Extremists Show Disdain for Law, Community
The past few months have been a testament to the dangerous levels of anti-immigrant sentiment the current administration has inflamed within certain segments of our society.
By Nia Rucker
Jun 10, 2019
"My voice is the most powerful thing I have"
ACLU-NM client Jordan McDowell speaks out about racial discrimination at Allsup’s
By Katie Hoeppner
Jun 03, 2019
The Ugly Resurgence of Border Vigilantism
In late April, the ACLU of New Mexico sent letters to federal, state and local authorities urging them to criminally investigate a group calling itself the United Constitutional Patriots (UCP) that has been illegally arresting immigrant families at gunpoint in southern New Mexico and turning them over to Border Patrol. Videos that the UCP posted online show masked men in military camouflage surrounding hundreds of men, women and young children huddled. Some of the men carry military-style weapons. In one of the videos, a vigilante shines a flashlight on two immigrant men and muses, “The only problem is if we shoot on the hill it will be an international crisis . . . It would save some time though, wouldn’t it?”
By Peter Simonson
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