New Mexico Counties Race to Preserve ICE Detention Cash Cow Through No-Bid Contracts

The Loophole

Torrance and Cibola counties are waiting for the federal government to finalize no-bid contracts with CoreCivic that would allow immigration detention centers to keep operating after New Mexico's Immigrant Safety Act takes effect May 20. The law prohibits local governments from contracting with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but it cannot stop private companies from doing business with the feds directly.

County officials have made clear their priority: keeping the money flowing. Torrance County Manager Jordan Barela told commissioners April 2 that CoreCivic is "in the process of negotiating a direct contract with ICE" that would remove the county from the arrangement. The commission voted to extend its ICE contract by one month as a stopgap while waiting for the federal deal to close.

Cibola County Manager Kate Fletcher said in interviews last week and Tuesday that she expects the agreement to be finalized "in the next few weeks" and is "anticipating and hoping" CoreCivic will continue working with ICE. She described the detention facility as an economic necessity for the county.

The Sole-Source Shuffle

The federal government announced plans last month to issue sole-source contracts to CoreCivic for the Torrance and Cibola facilities. These contracts bypass the typical competitive bidding process, though federal regulations still require a formal work outline and price justification before a deal is finalized.

Fletcher said CoreCivic is ready to submit a proposal but is waiting for ICE to formally issue its request. A CoreCivic spokesperson declined to answer questions Tuesday, offering only a boilerplate statement about "caring for each person in our facilities respectfully and humanely" and directing further questions to ICE. ICE did not respond to questions.

The arrangement works because CoreCivic owns the land and buildings for both facilities. That makes it straightforward for ICE to contract directly with the company, sidestepping the state law that targets county involvement. Courts in other states have struck down efforts to restrict private companies from doing business with ICE.

Otero County Digs In

The third ICE detention facility in New Mexico is in Otero County, which is fighting a different battle. Unlike Torrance and Cibola, Otero County owns the land for its processing center and contracts with Management and Training Corp. to operate it. That means a direct contract between the company and ICE is not possible.

Otero County extended its ICE contract by five years last month, arguing the deal does not violate the Immigrant Safety Act because it was signed before the May 20 effective date. The county says it has no choice: it bonded about $60 million to build the facility in 2007 and is still paying off the debt.

The New Mexico Department of Justice is not buying it. Last week, the department filed a petition with the state Supreme Court asking it to block Otero County from executing the five-year agreement, arguing the contract violates state law. The Justice Department had already challenged the meeting at which the county extended the contract, arguing it violated the Open Meetings Act. The county held another meeting to remedy that issue, then extended the contract again.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Otero County had not filed a response to the Supreme Court petition.

Follow the Money

The scramble to keep detention facilities open comes down to revenue. County officials in Torrance, Cibola, and Otero have repeatedly cited the economic importance of ICE contracts, framing them as essential to local budgets. The Immigrant Safety Act, passed by the New Mexico legislature, was designed to end county complicity in immigration detention by cutting off the financial relationship between local governments and ICE.

The no-bid contracts in Torrance and Cibola counties would preserve the detention operations while technically complying with the law. Whether that outcome aligns with the intent of the legislation is another question entirely. The state cannot stop CoreCivic from contracting with ICE, but it can make clear that local governments will not be partners in the business of locking people up for profit.

The May 20 deadline is three weeks away. County officials are watching the clock, hoping the federal government moves fast enough to keep the money coming.