On May 8, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice sued the state of New Mexico, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez, the City of Albuquerque, and Albuquerque Mayor Timothy Keller, over what the DOJ calls their sanctuary policies that they claim interfere with the federal government’s enforcement of immigration laws. The lawsuit asserts that the state and locality “seek to intentionally obstruct federal law enforcement and thwart the constitutional obligation of the President of the United States to take care that the immigration laws enacted by Congress are enforced.” House Bill 9, otherwise known as the Immigrant Safety Act, was passed in February 2026 and is set to take effect May 20, 2026. The legislation prevents law enforcement entities from collaborating with federal immigration agents and prohibits cities and counties from signing or renewing federal contracts to detain individuals for civil immigration violations. New Mexico’s three immigration detention centers have faced allegations of human rights violations and three deaths in custody since 2022. The legislation was passed in consideration of the harms occurring in the state. The law also promotes real public safety by ensuring local law enforcement is not entangled in ICE operations through formal agreements – allowing crime victims, domestic violence survivors, and all community members to approach law enforcement without fear.  The City of Albuquerque was also named in the lawsuit by the DOJ. Albuquerque’s Safer Community Places Ordinances was passed by the Albuquerque City Council in March 2026, and the ordinance limits federal immigration enforcement in schools, hospitals, churches, shelters and city-owned facilities. Construction zones and courthouses are also off-limits to ICE without warrants, under the measure. 

The DOJ argued the Immigration Safety Act and the Safer Community Places Ordinance interfere with federal immigration enforcement, and requested that the court declare the laws invalid and issue an injunction to stop them from being enforced.

The Legislature made a considered judgment that New Mexico’s government, its employees, and its publicly funded facilities should not be instruments of a detention system that has caused serious and preventable harm to people held within our borders. That is precisely the kind of policy judgment that belongs to the states.Attorney General Raúl Torrez