Lawyers and immigrant rights groups are raising alarms over the whereabouts of 48 people detained during recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids across three New Mexico cities. Advocates say the individuals arrested earlier this month in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Roswell have been effectively "disappeared," with no information on where they are being held or whether they have access to legal counsel.
The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico filed a formal civil rights complaint on Sunday with the Department of Homeland Security's Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, alleging that federal authorities have failed to disclose critical information about the detainees' status. "We don't have anybody and that's exactly the concern, that they've been effectively 'disappeared,'" said Rebecca Sheff, senior staff attorney at ACLU New Mexico, during a press conference Monday. "We have yet to learn any of their identities or whereabouts or the authorities under which they were held or conditions of their detention. We don't know if they've already been deported."
ICE acknowledged in a March 12 statement that it arrested 48 people described as "illegal aliens" with deportation orders or criminal convictions during the weeklong raids ending March 8. The agency said 21 individuals had final orders of removal and listed charges ranging from homicide and sexual offenses to burglary and battery. Others were arrested for illegal entry or re-entry violations.
However, the ACLU claims no legal representatives, advocacy groups, or families have been able to identify or locate the detainees, an anomaly given past practice. "What we know is people in our community are gone, workers are gone, family members are gone, our neighbors are gone," said Marcela Diaz, executive director of Somos Un Pueblo Unido.
ICE has not publicly identified the detainees or disclosed where they are being held. The agency maintains an online detainee locator system, but advocates argue that without names or identifying details, it is impossible to use the tool effectively. "They are not hearing from any family saying, hey, my person disappeared," Sheff said. "To be in a situation now where the appropriate word for what is happening here, effectively, is disappearances, should give everyone pause."
The complaint filed by ACLU New Mexico calls for DHS oversight offices to investigate the raids, ensure detainees' well-being, prevent retaliation, and hold personnel accountable. "We are alarmed and disturbed that these four dozen New Mexican individuals remain unidentified and that insufficient transparency, oversight, and accountability has taken place to date regarding their whereabouts and wellbeing," the complaint states.
Diaz noted that local mayors of Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Roswell were reportedly unaware the arrests were planned. "ICE had assured them they would only be going after people with criminal convictions," she said. Yet the ICE announcement confirmed that many of those arrested had not been convicted of crimes but rather detained for civil immigration violations.
The arrests occurred against a broader backdrop of heightened immigration enforcement, including President Donald Trump's recent use of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans accused of gang ties. The Trump administration has been developing Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, into a "deportation hub" and has reportedly considered Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque as a detention site for undocumented immigrants.
Immigrant advocates have compared the situation to enforced disappearances common in repressive regimes. "I used to work internationally... and we would encounter routinely circumstances where people were picked up and effectively disappeared, held incommunicado, mistreated, made unavailable, families didn't know where they were," Sheff said.
The issue is emerging as the New Mexico Legislature debates two immigration-related bills. House Bill 9 and Senate Bill 250 aim to restrict state and local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement and limit ICE detention operations. "There must be a clear and distinct line between who is enforcing federal immigration law and who is in our community to keep us safe," said Gabriela Ibañez Guzmán, staff attorney at Somos Un Pueblo Unido.
New Mexico Immigrant Law Center's Jessica Martinez emphasized the urgency of passing both bills before the legislative session ends. "Ours are still standing because we are organized and time is of the essence," Martinez said.
At a press conference Monday, Allen Sánchez, executive director of the New Mexico Conference of Catholic Bishops, urged lawmakers to pass the legislation. Quoting Pope Francis, Sánchez said, "Some votes - and not all votes, but some votes - follow you to the gates of heaven, and these are one of them."
