Opponents of an amendment that would reverse the City of Albuquerque’s immigrant friendly policy gathered at Civic Plaza Monday afternoon to speak out against the proposed change. 

“Our immigrant friendly policy in the City of Albuquerque is really important. It has been in place for about 24 years, so for 24 years we have been improving this policy, making sure we are protecting and respecting everybody who lives in our city,” said City Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn during the rally.

The amendment, introduced at the May 6 City Council meeting by Councilors Brook Bassan and Renée Grout, will allow Albuquerque Police officers or other city officials to report a noncitizen to federal authorities if they have been charged with a violent felony, human trafficking or drug trafficking. 

Fiebelkorn said there is no reason for this amendment other than to gain political points. 

“I’m not interested in two ways of providing justice in our community. One would be for people who look like me, and a completely different one for people who look like the folks who are standing up here with me today,” she said at the rally. “That is not justice. That is not equity and that is not what Albuquerque is about.” 

Targets 

“These amendments, we know what they are. They’re tactics to divert attention to the real causes and solutions of crime,” Rosalinda Dorado, civic engagement program director for El Centro de Igualdad y Derechos, told City Desk ABQ after the rally. “We know that this is a pawn scheme to criminalize certain communities, especially our most vulnerable immigrant communities.” 

Dorado said the sanctuary policy passed in 2000 has been good for public safety. 

During the rally, Dorado read a statement from Chief Public Defender Ben Baur, who said the proposal targets people who are merely charged and may never be found to have committed a crime based on their assumed immigration status. He said it would create more bureaucracy and not improve community safety.

A Step Backward

Maribel Garza, who works with victims of domestic violence at Enlace Comunitario, told City Desk ABQ that the proposed changes would make it difficult for crime victims to report. 

“If there’s an emergency, whether it’s a sexual assault, whether it’s domestic violence, intimate partner violence, whatever kind of crime is being perpetrated, that fear, instead of thinking, ‘I’m going to call the police for my safety,’ that’s the last entity they want to call,” she said. 

Garza said this amendment feels like a step backward instead of forward and pushes back the work community organizations have been doing for years.

Committee Public Comment

At Monday’s Finance and Government Operations Committee meeting, the proposed amendment was moved out of committee without recommendation, but after it heard some robust public comments.

Several speakers stated that if passed, the bill would lead to racial profiling and the creation of a two-tiered justice system. 

Jessica Martinez, director of policy at the New Mexico Immigration Law Center and an immigration attorney who serves on the board of the immigration section of the New Mexico State Bar, said NMILC focuses on trauma-informed legal services for victims of crimes, survivors of persecution, and vulnerable immigrant children. 

The proposed amendment, she said, would be detrimental to public safety by creating distrust and fear in immigrant communities and stripping immigrants and communities of color of their due process rights and their presumption of innocence. 

Sophia Genovese, an attorney specializing in detention and asylum cases at the NMILC, said people placed in ICE detention in New Mexico are not appointed free council because there are only six attorneys in the entire state offering representation to people in detention.

“Ultimately the harm was already done by transferring someone into ICE custody,” she said. “That individual is placed in deportation proceedings and separated from their families.”   

Sanctuary City?

After the public comment session, council members discussed the proposed amendment. 

“What this bill does is keep our immigrant friendly city immigrant friendly, while making sure that we are no longer going to be a sanctuary city for criminals,” Bassan said. “This bill says that federal enforcement will be notified by APD or city staff and resources if someone is arrested and charged with a violent felony, human trafficking or trafficking of controlled substances.”  

Bassan reiterated that the bill does not target people who have been charged with misdemeanor crimes.

If passed, Bassan said the immigrant-friendly policies will still exist unless a person is charged with a violent felony, human trafficking or trafficking a controlled substance. 

Councilor Dan Champine said that the immigrant community in Albuquerque plays a key role in the city’s economy and that this ordinance helps to protect the law-abiding people. 

“It’s the simple action of criminals that needs to be addressed. Not the people that are trying to better their lives,” he said. 

The bill is currently scheduled to be heard at the June 3 City Council meeting.