This letter is provided as opinion/commentary from the authors.
You can submit your own: editor@citydesk.org
“One Albuquerque” is more than a tagline. It is a commitment to ensuring that all families are able to
thrive. It is an acknowledgment that our diversity is our strength.
Albuquerque’s immigrant friendly policies, 24 years strong, recognize the contributions of immigrants to
the economic, civic, and cultural fiber of our City. Immigrants in New Mexico represent approximately
13% of the workforce and are taxpayers, consumers, and small business owners. Current policies are
the result of decades of engagement with immigrant communities, victims’ advocates, and civil liberties
experts. Our policies have a proven track record of promoting public safety, upholding constitutional
rights, and discouraging racial profiling.
Councilors Bassan and Grout’s proposed amendment to our current policy is misguided. It would compel
the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) to collaborate with Immigration Customs and Enforcement
(ICE), independent of whether charges have been substantiated or not. This would create a two-tiered
criminal justice system and would strip an entire community of the presumption of innocence enshrined
in the Constitution. This would allow bad-apple police officers to abuse their power and would encourage
racial profiling and pretextual charges, with the knowledge that the victim would be deported before they
could defend themselves against the charges. This is fundamentally un-American.
New Mexicans are all safer when we can call the police to report crime and access emergency and
safety services such as Albuquerque Community Safety, and Albuquerque Fire and Rescue. When there
has been an uptick of Immigration and Customs (ICE) activity in Albuquerque, targeting parents in their
homes, workers in the workplace, students on their way to school, and small business owners – the result
is an entire community suffering in silence. We know that collaboration between ICE and our criminal
legal system, including APD, compounds this fear and has a chilling impact on public safety. We have
victims of domestic violence who cannot risk calling the police, seeking shelter, getting an order of
protection, or serving as a witness for fear of deportation. We also have children in fear that their parents
won’t be home when they get back from school. We are better than that.
The racial profiling inherent in the amendment would not be limited to immigrants. In a majority Hispanic
city, how would an officer be able to distinguish between a native born Hispanic and a Mexican national?
Should we pass policies that will inevitably lead to both immigrants and communities of color being
harassed, having to prove their citizenship status, and mistakenly being turned over to ICE? This not
only undermines the equity that we are striving for, but it will lead to costly lawsuits. At a time when APD
is still being monitored by the DOJ due to systemic misconduct and when trust in law enforcement is at
an all-time low, this would further erode trust in the police.
The amendment is unnecessary. Our current policies do NOT prevent APD from arresting or
investigating an individual or the court system from convicting and incarcerating them, regardless of their
immigration status. In addition, ICE already has the ability to identify and deport those who are
convicted of a crime, including the charges enumerated in the amendment. We shouldn’t use our limited
public safety budget to do ICE’s job.
Albuquerque: we have a choice. Do we work together to address the root causes of crime, or do we
scapegoat an entire community, a community that has been proven to commit less crime than native-
born citizens, to score political points? We invite the council to pause, check in with the DOJ monitor
about the unintended consequences, meet with advocates and impacted communities, before we roll
back decades of progress.
City Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn
City Councilor Nichole Rogers
City Councilor Joaquīn Baca
Use our news! Now that you’ve caught up on the issue, take a moment to provide comment to your elected leaders to tell them what you think.
What good is news about a meeting that already happened?
At City Desk, we want you to have news you can use to participate in public decisions that impact you and your neighborhood.
Reach out to your city councilors about stories and issues you read in City Desk (and be sure to share if you hear back).
Tell your city councilors what you think about this issue.
Pro tips for writing your elected officials:
Be personal and specific. If this story or issue impacts you directly, tell them how. “This proposal would cost my family an extra $100 a month” is better feedback than “I don’t like this.”
Be professional and polite. Name calling and fighting words may get attention, but not the type you want.
And be sure to tell them you read about this issue in City Desk!
Use this form to submit your comments to Albuquerque’s city councilors.
I live in the greater ABQ area & not in the city. I no longer feel safe walking on Central Ave & other areas & have not felt safe in years. I believe that cheap labor is at the root of this created problem. Seems TPTB like their cheap labor these illegals supply. The border wall/fence is still not complete, WHY? I’ve seen a political big wig in my area who had 3 illegals living in his pool house while they worked summers for him.
I’m not a fan of illegal aliens entering the USA. I know for a fact if a US citizen entered Mexico illegally they would be treated harshly. Seems no wall & illegals pouring in is what many liberals want. This can not stand, with out a border we have no country.