Heriberto Perez Lara
CHAPARRAL, New Mexico (KVIA) — Otero County Commissioners held an emergency meeting last Friday to discuss the future of the ICE detention center located in Chaparral, New Mexico.
Otero County Commissioners renewed a contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to keep the Otero County detention center open, even though a new state law prohibiting such agreements is set to take effect in May.
New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed the Immigrant Safety Act in February, which prohibits state or local governments from renewing or agreeing to contracts to arrest people for federal immigration crimes or violations.
The office of New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham sent the following written statement to ABC-7:
“The Immigrant Safety Act takes effect on May 20, and the administration expects all local governments to comply with it. The Governor’s Office will continue to review the county’s actions and monitor any legal developments. The Attorney General will be responsible for ensuring compliance with the Immigrant Safety Act.”
A spokesperson for Governor Lujan Grisham’s office also told ABC-7 that she was not available for an interview today due to scheduling conflicts.
Otero County Commissioners made a motion to approve the new contract last Friday, where all three County Commissioners, Vickie Marquardt, Amy Barela and Gerald Matherly approved it.
County Attorney R.B. Nichols said the County has operated the processing center under an Intergovernmental Service agreement with ICE since the facility opened, which agreement, as the sole source of revenue, pledges to secure the 2007 bonds that funded the building of that ICE facility in Chaparral.
The former agreement expired last Sunday, March 16. Otero County Commissioners voted before the deadline to renew it, in which ICE sent the county a replacement last Thursday night with a term going from March 16, 2026, to March 15, 2031.
“I’ve reviewed that contract; it is in order and I’m recommending that you (County Commissioners) approve it because we got this (new agreement terms) last night and there’s less than four days before the current one expires,” said County Attorney Nichols during last Friday’s meeting. “We couldn’t give the 72-hour notice for a special meeting, that’s why we’re here under the emergency authority; it was not our choice to do it this way.” “I would’ve much preferred not to come through the last 24 hours of dealing with this.”
According to County Attorney Nichols, the county’s revenue bonds that were issued in 2007 to finance the construction of the Otero County Detention Center are still outstanding and the total remaining debt service as of last week was in excess of $19.3 million in outstanding principal.
Otero County had to pass and approve this new contract because they were required to do so; it was an obligation they had with ICE.
“House Bill 9, as you know, is out there and it would prevent approval of this if today were May 20th or beyond, but it’s not May 20th; that’s not in effect, so that’s why I’m recommending that you approve this agreement.” County Attorney Nichols added.
Otero County Attorney R.B. Nichols provided ABC-7 with the following news release:
County_Press_Release_3.17.2026Download
County Attorney Nichols also told ABC-7, Otero County will not be providing further comment or interviews at this time.
State Senator for District 34, Jim G. Townsend (R-New Mexico), said when HB 9 was discussed, it was disturbing to him to know that around 1,000 jobs in New Mexico were going to be impacted by this bill, but that the county did a really good job by making this decision.
“It was a reaction to that and I thought it was unfortunate that a New Mexico legislature, who are responsible for representing the people of New Mexico, promoting jobs, making their lives better, would carry a bill that did away with a thousand jobs and put a lot of our families and our neighbors at risk,” said State Sen. Townsend. “If rewriting immigration law in New Mexico was the New Mexico legislature’s purview, I would be right on board with helping that occur because that, in my opinion, desperately needs to be done.”
“We didn’t need to harm New Mexicans with the bill that they had no effect or action on it,” State Sen. Townsend added. “Not signing a new contract would have been devastating for the county and would have broken the county.”
State Senator Townsend says he has been inside the Otero County Detention Center and says conditions there are nothing compared to other places he has visited, saying it is “immaculately clean and well cared for.”
“There’s all walks of life, many different countries are there (around 90 different) and I think it was unfortunate that what I saw there was just a spattering of what actually came across the border; we really don’t know what came across the border and that has caused a lot of people some alarm,” State Sen. Townsend also said. “I want to make sure that those people who are in that facility are processed quickly, fairly and under the laws of our nation.”
ABC-7 also spoke with State Representative for District 51, John Block (R-New Mexico), who also represents Otero County.
“I was very pleased with the commission, making sure that our facility stays open and the contract is for five years, so there’s five more years of stable revenue to our community and that happens because our contract ended on the 15th; so we needed to make sure that by the 15th, we got this in the bag and ensured that that contract was renewed,” State Rep. Block said.
“I’m glad that they (Otero County Commissioners) had that emergency meeting and they acted swiftly to make sure that we protected those 284 jobs, as well as the tens of thousands of dollars in economic revenue and then the millions of dollars in GRT and other things that are really promoting our county,” State Rep. Block added.
For New Mexico State Rep. Block, they have to think creatively in the future, five years down the road in the future, to make sure that they protect their assets as a county.
“The state of New Mexico really did a disservice to our county and to our people by taking away our gross receipts taxes that we need to rely on to ensure that we have public safety, that we make sure that our potholes are filled and that we continue to protect our community with things like essential services, such as, animal control, for example,” State Rep. Block also said. “With this renewal of our contract, we’re going to ensure that we protect those current jobs that we have, maybe even have some growth here and that’s something that I want to make sure that we’re working with federal partners and ensuring that those dollars stay in Otero County.”
“I have spoken to federal partners in DC and those federal partners say that this is something that is not okay, this is something that is essentially trying to deter the president’s administration from conducting U.S. federal immigration law and that’s something that is not okay,” State Rep. Block added. “Unfortunately, the state of New Mexico has brought itself into a conundrum, passing an unconstitutional bill that absolutely defies both the state constitution and the federal regulations; so we’re working hard to ensure that our federal partners are working with us.”
“I’m not exactly sure what our congressional delegation is doing because all of our delegation supports this legislation, which is unconstitutional, that kills jobs and that hurts their very districts; so we’re working hard to make sure that we protect Otero County’s facility, but we also want to make sure that we protect the Torrance and Cibola County facilities and other places in New Mexico.”
State Representative for District 53, Sarah Silva (D-New Mexico), sent the following letter to the office of New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez to ensure that Otero County Commissioners had not violated HB 9—or any other regulation—by taking this action and signing the contract for the Otero County Detention Center with ICE and DHS.
Opinion Request for AG Torrez (1)Download
ABC-7 has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security, ICE, the offices of U.S. Senators Ben Ray Luján and Martin Heinrich, U.S. Representative Gabe Vasquez and Otero County District 1 Commissioner Gerald Matherly for comment.
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