Trump Sues New Mexico Officials Over Immigration Law, Threatening Local Autonomy

The Trump administration just escalated its war on sanctuary jurisdictions by suing New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, Attorney General Raúl Torrez, Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller, and their governments. The lawsuit challenges House Bill 9 (HB9), known as the “Immigrant Safety Act,” and Albuquerque’s “Safer Community Places Ordinance (SCPO),” accusing them of unlawfully blocking federal immigration agents from using local government property and requiring private businesses to warn undocumented immigrants about enforcement activities.

Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division framed the lawsuit as a defense of federal supremacy. “New Mexico is attempting to regulate immigration policy, something the federal government is clearly and uniquely empowered by the Constitution to do,” he said. The complaint seeks a preliminary injunction to halt these laws, arguing they obstruct federal immigration enforcement and interfere with contracts and federal supremacy.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison warned that HB9 and the SCPO “jeopardize nearly 300 jobs and the economy of Otero County” by barring public entities from participating in federal immigration detention. The Trump administration views these local policies as illegal sanctuary measures that undermine its aggressive immigration agenda, including the national emergency declared at the southern border.

New Mexico officials fired back with strong statements defending their laws as necessary responses to documented abuses in immigration detention facilities. Attorney General Raúl Torrez emphasized that the state legislature acted after extensive review of “inadequate medical care, deaths in custody, and conditions well below acceptable standards.” Torrez insisted that “the Constitution reserves to the states the power to govern their own affairs,” including how state and local personnel and facilities are used. “Federal agents remain free to enforce federal immigration law,” he said, “but they do not have a constitutional right to New Mexico’s personnel and resources.”

Mayor Tim Keller echoed this stance, pledging to protect the “safety, rights, and dignity of Albuquerque residents” and uphold policies ensuring “ALL families can call our city home without fear.”

This lawsuit is part of a broader Trump administration campaign to dismantle sanctuary policies nationwide through litigation and threats to withhold federal funding. By forcing local governments to become extensions of federal immigration enforcement, the administration is weaponizing the courts to erode state and municipal autonomy and intensify immigration crackdowns.

New Mexico’s fight in court will be a critical battleground over the limits of federal power and the rights of local communities to resist harsh immigration enforcement tactics. We will be watching closely as this case unfolds, exposing the administration’s relentless push to prioritize deportations over democratic governance and human dignity.

The case is United States v. State of New Mexico et al., No. 1:26-cv-01471 in U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico. We have reached out to the Governor’s, Mayor’s, and Attorney General’s offices for further comment.