Otero County will close detention facility in Alamogordo
By Hamilton Kahn
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OTERO COUNTY, N.M. (KOAT) — After numerous reports of poor conditions and imprisonment of immigrants who may not be in the U.S. illegally, the New Mexico legislature passed, and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed a bill that is likely to reduce, if not eliminate, the detention of people by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The Immigrant Safety Act bans local and state authorities from contacting ICE to detain people in New Mexico for civil immigration violations, and a quick response has come from the Otero County Detention Facility in Alamogordo. It announced that it will close when its contract is no longer in effect.
State Sen. James Townsend (R-Eddy & Otero) said the facility’s shutdown will deliver a heavy blow to the local economy.
“It’s a huge deal,” Townsend said. “It hurts Otero County, there’s no other way to spin it. There’s 1,000 going to be lost. There are three counties that are going to be affected, and as you well know, 1,000 jobs in New Mexico is a big deal.”
The other two facilities holding people detained by ICE in New Mexico are the Torrance County Detention Facility and the Cibola County Detention Center.
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