Author Archives: n.craig

ICE facilities in New Mexico

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This map of 23 ICE facilities in New Mexico was created from data obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request made by the Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC), and shared with the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC). Data were downloaded from NIJC who also provide some initial analysis of the table at the national level.

At the top left of the map page, there is a box with an arrow. Clicking this shows the map legend which lists five kinds of facilities.

  • IGSA = Intergovernmental Service Agreement
  • USMS IGA = US Marshals Service Intergovernmental Agreement
  • DIGSA = Dedicated Intergovernmental Service Agreement
  • Family = Family Detention Center
  • Hold = ICE Holding Facility

Immigration detention is a massive barrier to justice

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Since immigration litigation is a civil matter, many of the constitutional protections that extend to criminal proceedings do not apply to those held in immigration detention. Most of us are accustomed to the idea that people are innocent until proven guilty, that the prosecution bears the burden of proof, that the court will appoint an attorney of the defendant cannot afford one, and that a person has a right to a speedy trial. While those protections extend to criminal matters, they do not apply to civil immigration matters.

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During the past two years, 22 migrants died in ICE custody

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In a new analysis of dozens of government reports, death reviews and audits of ICE detention centers NBC reports that during the past two years 22 migrants died in ICE custody. One of those deaths, Roxana Hernandez, occurred in New Mexico. An independent autopsy indicates that she suffered blunt force trauma while in ICE custody.

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Immigration detention facilities in New Mexico are particularly problematic

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The United State Commission on Civil Rights determined that ICE and ICE contractor immigration detention facilities are punitive and abusive. New Mexico is host to two ICE immigration detention centers both of which are managed by large private prison corporations: Core Civic owns and manages Cibola County Correctional Center (CCCC) in Milan while Management and Training Corporation (MTC) manages the Otero County Processing Center (OCPC) in Chaparral. Government and advocacy reports indicate that these facilities are particularly problematic.

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Incarceration facilities don’t make for sound rural development

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The belief that placing incarceration facilities in rural areas stimulates local rural economies is a myth that was developed and perpetuated during the prison boom of the 1980s-1990s. Quantitative and demographic studies show that prison hosting, and by extension immigration detention center hosing, is a strain on local economies. All across the US, prison hosting raises unemployment in small towns and rural communities.

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