New Mexico Democratic candidate for governor Sam Bregman expressed opposition Friday to using state and local resources to enforce federal immigration law, unless it involves a criminal suspect who represents a serious threat to public safety.
Bregman, who is also the Bernalillo County district attorney, told New Mexico Political Report in a phone interview on Friday while en route to the opening of a campaign office in Roswell, that while he supports securing the border, he does not believe in rounding up individuals in the U.S, without legal status, who are not charged with any other crimes.
“My biggest concern right now with what’s going on is that the scaring of the immigrant community in Albuquerque, for example, is causing some crimes not to go reported because they’re in fear of coming to testify as a witness, or because they are, in fact, a victim of a violent crime, and they’re not coming forward because they’re scared that if they testify, they’ll be deported,” Bregman said.
He added that if witnesses or victims are scared that they could be detained or removed from the country, they will be less likely to cooperate with any investigation.
“That is the last thing we want to be happening. I want to hold people who are committing violent crime accountable, and I can’t do it if the immigrant community is scared to testify,” Bregman said.
Albuquerque and Santa Fe have in place immigrant-friendly resolutions that restrict local cooperation with federal immigration authorities, making them what critics call sanctuary cities.
In August, Albuquerque was included on a list of jurisdictions that the U.S. Department of Justice said impede the federal government from enforcing immigration law. The Trump administration has sought to bring litigation against and withhold funding from those jurisdictions.
On Monday, Bregman’s campaign also indicated in a statement emailed to New Mexico Political Report that he would back legislation banning New Mexico counties from entering into immigrant detention contracts with the federal government. Three New Mexico counties already have such agreements, but Bregman said in the statement he does not believe that counties should be in the business of immigrant detention, and that counties using resources to detain people whose only offense is their immigration status does not reflect the state’s values.
A majority of members on the New Mexico Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights announced earlier this month that they recommend that the three immigrant detention centers in the state be closed, citing concerns related to alleged due process and human rights violations at the facilities.
However, counties where those facilities are located claim that closing those facilities could adversely impact their economies. The private contractors have also denied the claims of detainee mistreatment.
Bregman is competing against former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and former Las Cruces Mayor Ken Miyagishima for the Democratic nomination in next year’s race for governor. Current Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM) is term-limited and cannot seek reelection. As of Monday, Rio Rancho Mayor Gregg Hull is the only Republican to have officially entered the race.