Advocates Release Two Reports Confirming Ongoing Horrific Conditions Inside of New Mexico’s ICE Detention Centers
Media Contact Email: New Mexico Immigrant Law Center: Sophia Genovese | sgenovese@nmilc.org
Santa Fe Dreamers Project: Leslie Gomez | leslie@santafedreamersproject.org
ALBUQUERQUE, NM - New Mexico legal service providers release two reports confirming ongoing horrific conditions inside of New Mexico’s ICE detention centers. These new reports corroborate the dozens of reports drafted and submitted on behalf of detained migrants and asylum seekers over the past several years in New Mexico.
The first report, Complaints by Migrants and Asylum Seekers in the ICE El Paso Area of Responsibility: Annual Report 2022, synthesizes the data of different complaints received by legal service providers during the 2022 calendar year. The report documented 86 experiences of medical neglect, 68 complaints about lack of legal access, 67 issues relating to unsanitary conditions, staff mistreatment, and not being given consistent access to edible food and clean drinking water, 50 language access complaints, and 42 due process complaints.
The second report, Protocols & Practices of Degradation & Dehumanization: ICE Civilly Detained Migrant Study, Analysis of Detention Conditions & Migrant Experiences highlights the direct testimonies of individuals in New Mexico’s three ICE detention facilities from January to May 2023, and assesses the psychological impact of detention on asylum seekers. The report finds that the routine obfuscation of essential information by officials and an overall lack of access to legal counsel causes an ongoing state of anxiety, panic, and stress.
As detailed in these reports, people continue to suffer mistreatment, unlivable conditions, and deteriorating mental health while held in ICE custody in New Mexico. People have reported, “they, [ICE] don't respond to any reports of anything (abuse etc.), they don't even come to check on us,” “they don’t care for our wellbeing, if we’re feeling okay, or if we’re healthy. We’re trapped in a room; I feel unsafe because no one cares about us.” One man explained his experience of consistent anxiety and stress in the detention environment by stating, “I’m concerned for my safety, we don’t feel safe because of the food, the treatment of the officers, the cleanliness, and because at any moment anything could happen.”
Meghana Sinnappan, Jesuit Volunteer and Legal Assistant at the New Mexico Immigrant Law Center, and co-author of Complaints by Migrants and Asylum Seekers in the ICE El Paso Area of Responsibility: Annual Report 2022, states:
“The dangerous and deadly conditions of ICE detention are creating a public health crisis. The health and wellness of migrants massively deteriorates under the duress of prolonged detention. Instead of taking any meaningful action to curtail these debilitating conditions, the Department of Homeland Security increasingly focuses their operations on rapid deportations, creating an assembly line of injustice.”
Leslie Gomez, Legal Coordinator at the Santa Fe Dreamers Project, and co-author of Complaints by Migrants and Asylum Seekers in the ICE El Paso Area of Responsibility: Annual Report 2022, states:
“These reports show only a fraction of the dangers of ICE detention and the continuous disregard for migrants’ safety. Regardless of immigration status, people should be treated with dignity and respect. The detaining of migrants in these detention centers allows for ICE to continue to dehumanize those who come seeking asylum. We call on the government to support and pass policies that decriminalize migration and put an end to immigration detention.”
Arabella Eagar, Master of Social Work graduate and volunteer at the New Mexico Immigrant Law Center, and author of Protocols & Practices of Degradation & Dehumanization: ICE Civilly Detained Migrant Study, Analysis of Detention Conditions & Migrant Experiences, states:
“The number of people being detained by ICE and moved through the for-profit prison complex in New Mexico is astounding. The harm and cruelty of this practice, treating vulnerable people like commodities, cannot be overlooked. Sustainable policy is needed for global migration to move out of crisis. We need a just and equitable way forward, centering the wellbeing of migrants, citizens, and communities. New Mexico can choose to approach and address immigration dynamics with humanity and dignity for all.”
*Zoom or Facetime interviews available upon request.*
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The New Mexico Immigrant Law Center is a non-profit organization seeking to advance justice and equity by empowering low-income immigrant communities through collaborative legal services, advocacy, and education.
