HOUSE MEMORIAL 51

57th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2026

INTRODUCED BY

Anita Gonzales and Michelle Paulene Abeyta

 

 

 

 

 

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING STUDIES REGARDING EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR EMPLOYEES OF CERTAIN DETENTION CENTERS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE REUSE OR REPURPOSING OF DETENTION FACILITIES.

 

     WHEREAS, House Bill 9, introduced in the second session of the fifty-seventh legislature, would enact the Immigrant Safety Act and would prohibit public bodies from being party to agreements to detain individuals for federal civil immigration violations; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico is home to three detention facilities that contract with United States immigration and customs enforcement, located in Cibola, Otero and Torrance counties; and

     WHEREAS, the three existing detention centers may have employees who could experience a change in job status if the existing contracts with United States immigration and customs enforcement are discontinued; and

     WHEREAS, the reliance on foreign private prison corporations results in a lack of economic diversification and a greater risk of economic instability; and

     WHEREAS, if the physical facilities comprising those detention centers were used for different purposes, those facilities could meet broader community and state needs and create sustainable rural economic development opportunities; and

     WHEREAS, since 2000, twenty-one states have partially closed or fully closed at least one correctional facility, resulting in a trend of prison repurposing in which old prisons are converted for community and commercial use;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the economic development department and the workforce solutions department be requested to study ways in which jobs related to civil immigration detention might be replaced with new employment opportunities; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the children, youth and families department, the corrections department and the health care authority be requested to study ways in which the existing detention facilities that contract with United States immigration and customs enforcement might be used for other purposes, including non-civil immigration detention, patient health care and other purposes meeting community or state needs; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the economic development department be requested to study ways in which the state might assist communities affected by the prohibition of civil immigration detention through the use of state programs, including rural development funds, the innovation in state government fund and preferences in state procurement; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the results of the studies and recommendations be delivered to the appropriate interim legislative committees on or before October 1, 2026; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the secretary of children, youth and families, the secretary of corrections, the secretary of economic development, the secretary of health care authority and the secretary of workforce solutions.

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