The Cibola County Commission on Thursday voted to exit a federal immigrant detention contract in accordance with a new state law that prohibits such agreements.
The commission agreed to send both the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency and CoreCivic, which owns the Cibola County Correctional Center, a letter that announces the county’s intent to begin “an orderly and lawful wind-down” of the agreement enabling ICE to house immigrant detainees at the facility.
The letter cites House Bill 9, the Immigrant Safety Act, which the Legislature enacted during the 30-day legislative session earlier this year and which bans such agreements, as the reason behind the contract’s termination.
Cibola is the first of three New Mexico counties with ICE detention contracts to formally announce its exit from the detention agreements. The Torrance County and Otero County commissions have both sought to extend their contracts despite the new law.
Still, the letter the commission voted to send leaves open the possibility that litigation might derail the implementation of HB9, which goes into effect in May. The letter to CoreCivic and ICE suggests that a court might intervene to stop the bill’s enforcement.
The county will not end the contract, the letter notes, “should enforcement of New Mexico House Bill 9, the Immigrant Safety Act, be enjoined by a Court of competent jurisdiction.”
Cibola County Manager Kate Fletcher told Source NM on Friday the commission included that language amid an ongoing dispute over Otero County’s efforts to extend its ICE contract in apparent defiance of the state law. The commission voted earlier this month to extend its contract for five years, as well as to retain outside counsel for possible litigation.
Fletcher stressed that she does not know if Otero County is going to file a lawsuit seeking to prohibit the enforcement of HB9, but she said Cibola’s commissioners included the language in case they do.
“We wanted to put wording in there so we can explain that we don’t know how this is going to turn out in court,” she said.
Cibola County Commission Chair Christine Lowery told Source NM on Friday that the commission is trying to keep its options open as the dispute plays out in Otero County.
“We’re trying to comply with the law,” she said. “But if Otero challenges this, then we might consider, you know, what the options are.”
Otero County Attorney RB Nichols did not respond to an email from Source NM on Friday seeking comment about potential litigation. The New Mexico Department of Justice also did not respond to Source NM’s question Thursday about whether the department anticipates a lawsuit.
Even though Cibola County is exiting from the contract, ICE and CoreCivic could still contract directly to continue to detain immigrants at the facility in Milan, which currently houses about 230 detainees. ICE announced its intention earlier this month to seek a “sole source” contract for immigrant detention in both Cibola and Torrance counties.
The Torrance County Commission is meeting Monday. According to an agenda it posted online on Friday, the county is seeking to extend its ICE agreement until April 30.
In the meantime, “CoreCivic is in the process of negotiating a direct contract” with ICE that county officials believe will be in place by the time the county’s contract expires. The Torrance County Detention Facility currently houses roughly 360 detainees, according to the latest estimates.
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