Otero County’s on-again, off-again contract to hold ICE detainees is headed to the state’s Supreme Court where justices are being asked to decide if the county’s attempts to rush a new agreement into place before a new state law banning them violated state law.
In February, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed House Bill 9 which required local governments to terminate existing contracts supporting federal immigration and detention efforts, and banned them from entering into new ones, but it does not take effect until May 20.
Meanwhile, commissioners in Otero County faced a dilemma. The county’s agreements with ICE to house federal detainees in a county-owned facility had expired in 2019, although it had been extended until March 15, 2026. If the county wanted to remain in the detention business, it would need a new agreement in place. So, commissioners called an emergency meeting to approve a rushed agreement, but the state Department of Justice challenged that action because they had not properly notified the public of the meeting and had not sought required state review before approving it. Commissioners later held a second meeting with notice to reapprove the agreement, but never sought state approval.
In a new case filed with the state Supreme Court on Wednesday, Attorney General Raul Torre? is asking the court to invalidate the contract entirely saying the last-minute efforts by the commission were designed to go around the legislature, state approvals and the new law. “[Otero County] could not enter into the [intergovernmental agreement with ICE] without the approval of the Secretary of [the Department of Finance and Administration]. Because [the county] did not obtain this approval, the contract is void, and [the county] cannot enforce it,” Torre? says in his court filings today.
Torre? is asking the court to prevent Otero County from operating under the new contract and agreement which would effectively end ICE detentions in Otero County’s local facility, though they could still house local and other federal prisoners on behalf of other federal agencies.
Otero County did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Court has not yet scheduled the case for a hearing.