Nationally, Immigration and Customs Enforcement held in custody on average on any given day last year. People leaving ICE detention often say conditions were bad, and they were or . Some New Mexico lawmakers are carrying that might create a window into ICE facilities here.
ICE detention centers are under the control of the federal government, and many of them are run by , making it hard for anyone to get information about potential human rights violations inside. Five local legislators鈥攊ncluding Rep. Micaela Cadena鈥攁re sponsoring a bill that could make it so ICE centers could be inspected and monitored by the state. "When we think about facilities operating within our state," she said, "we want to make sure inmates and staff that are doing the important work inside these facilities are safe."
The state鈥檚 Corrections Department says the bill doesn鈥檛 add money for these inspections, so it creates an unfunded mandate, though overall, the department is likely to see . There are two facilities used regularly for ICE detention in New Mexico鈥� and 鈥攁nd both are run by corporations.
Around the country, government inspectors have reported thousands of , but according to from Homeland Security鈥檚 inspector general, .
