NM’s rural counties shouldn’t rely on private prisons as an economic model, Vasquez says

Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico

This article was originally published by Source New Mexico.

U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez, whose 2nd Congressional District contains New Mexico’s biggest immigrant detention facility, told Source NM on Friday that he supports the state Legislature’s recent prohibition on those facilities even if it could result in lost jobs in his district. 

During a Friday visit to Albuquerque, Vasquez weighed in on the Legislature’s passage of House Bill 9, the Immigrant Safety Act, which prohibits public entities in the state from contracting with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency for immigrant detention. 

Under the law, Otero County in Southeast New Mexico will be required to exit its agreement with ICE for the Otero County Processing Center in Chaparral, a facility that currently holds roughly 900 detainees, according to the latest estimates. 

“I fully support it,” Vasquez said of the ban. “I think it’s a really important step for us to be taking as we see the overreach of ICE across the country. I’m proud of our Legislature, proud of our governor, for taking that action.”

Otero County officials have said the bill, which Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed into law Feb. 5, will prompt the facility to close, resulting in hundreds of lost jobs and millions in tax revenue. 

Late in the session that concluded Wednesday, the Legislature approved about $12 million to offset potential losses in counties with ICE facilities, some of which will go toward revenue bonds the Otero County issued to build the Chaparral facility. 

Vasquez called that funding a “temporary fix” as he works with county officials to find a better, more ethical, local economy. 

“Private prisons as an economic model, especially in our rural counties, I don’t believe are the best economic development solutions,” he said. “I think it’ll present some unique challenges to those counties that we have to figure out how to solve, in terms of bringing and replacing those jobs that are going to be lost.”

Vasquez spoke to Source during a tour of the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office real-time crime center. He secured $500,000 for the office through congressionally directed spending, money that will allow the agency to make upgrades to its centralized hub for monitoring crime and to purchase a dozen more drones equipped with infrared and high-quality cameras. 

Those technological solutions are also what Vasquez would like to see along New Mexico’s shared border with Mexico, which sits in his district. Instead of “vanity projects” like building a border wall in the state’s Bootheel or painting it black to deter border-crossers, he said, DHS should focus on expanding the use of automated surveillance towers. 

“What we’ve seen in terms of technology here today is some of the same technology that’s being used on the border,” he said. “So not only are we being more efficient if we don’t build the wall, but we’re also securing the border in a much more strategic and tactical way.”

Vasquez’s visit occurs amid a partial government shutdown, in which Vasquez and other congressional Democrats are refusing to fund the U.S. Department of Homeland Security without major concessions. Vasquez told Source on Friday he won’t vote to fund DHS, a department that includes ICE, until Secretary Kristi Noem resigns and ICE officers are required to wear masks and conduct lawful arrests.

“Those things are non-negotiable for me, and until the Republicans wake up, understand that it’s having a negative impact and that they themselves are the ones creating the chaos, I don’t believe we’re going to get to fruitful negotiations,” he said.

Patrick Lohmann is a reporter for Source New Mexico.