Feds Sue New Mexico and Albuquerque Over Pro-Immigrant Policies, Claiming Interference with Federal Enforcement

The U.S. Department of Justice filed suit on Friday against New Mexico and the city of Albuquerque, attacking recent pro-immigrant measures as unlawful interference with federal immigration enforcement. The lawsuit targets the Immigrant Safety Act, a state law passed earlier this year, and Albuquerque’s Safer Community Places Ordinance, both designed to limit local cooperation with ICE.

The Immigrant Safety Act prohibits local governments from contracting with ICE for immigrant detention and bans cooperation agreements between local police and ICE. It takes effect on May 20 and is expected to end New Mexico’s only ICE law enforcement contract in Curry County, though the state’s three immigrant detention centers are slated to remain open.

Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate emphasized the federal government’s exclusive constitutional authority over immigration policy, condemning the law for attempting to “abolish decades of long-standing, voluntary partnerships” essential to enforcing immigration laws as Congress intended.

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez fired back, defending the law as a legitimate exercise of state authority. He called the lawsuit an effort to overturn a democratically enacted law simply because the federal administration disagrees with it. “We will see them in court,” Torrez said, underscoring that states have the power to govern their own affairs, including deployment of personnel and use of public facilities.

Albuquerque’s Safer Community Places Ordinance, signed by Mayor Tim Keller, aligns with the state law by banning the use of city property for federal immigration enforcement and limiting enforcement at hospitals, schools, and other designated “safe community places.” The Justice Department accuses the city of trying to “harbor and shield illegal aliens from detection” by federal authorities.

The federal lawsuit demands the courts declare these laws invalid and block their enforcement, framing local efforts to protect immigrant communities as obstruction of federal law enforcement. This case is the latest front in the ongoing battle over immigration enforcement authority, pitting local governments seeking to safeguard civil rights against a federal administration aggressively asserting control.

We will continue to monitor this developing story as it unfolds in court.