City Council to hear proposed changes to immigrant-friendly ordinance

Alaina Mencinger, Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
·2 min read

May 13—Immigrant rights organizations and others gathered Monday in opposition to a proposed amendment to the city's immigrant-friendly ordinance.

The amendment was heard Monday at a meeting of the Albuquerque City Council Committee of Finance and Government Operations. The five-person committee voted 3-2 to send the resolution to the full Council for a final vote without a recommendation. Councilors Klarissa Peña and Tammy Fiebelkorn voted against.

The ordinance, first adopted in 2000, prohibits city resources from being used to enforce federal immigration law and keeps ICE agents out of city properties. Over the years, legislation has been passed to reaffirm and strengthen the city's immigrant-friendly status.

An amendment proposed by councilors Brook Bassan and Renée Grout would create an exception to that provision for people charged with a violent felony or human or narcotics trafficking. Bassan said the goal is to improve safety, not to create "fear," and that the accused would still have the opportunity to stand trial.

Bassan pointed to the 2019 shooting death of Jacqueline Vigil. Luis Talamantes-Romero was arrested on immigration violations in 2020 after fleeing New Mexico and found guilty of Vigil's death last year. Bassan said the victims of human traffickers or witnesses to crime would not be targets of the exception.

"What I want to do is make sure that we continue having an immigrant-friendly city, while making sure that we are not a sanctuary city for criminals," Bassan said. "These are people that are preying on immigrants, and our community and Albuquerque — and we have to put a stop to it."

But opponents of the measure said it could violate due process rights, expose immigrants to racial profiling, and discourage undocumented victims of crime from reporting incidents.

At the committee meeting and during a press conference earlier that day, speakers shared times they experienced harassment or feared their immigration status would be used against them.

Alejandro Jimenez Lucero spoke about his experience with an abusive employer at the Monday meeting. He said he and others were worried about reporting the behavior, but the immigrant-friendly policy helped push employees to speak up.

"We are working to have a better life. ... This only makes us more vulnerable," he said in a statement read at the earlier press conference.

In a statement, Ben Bauer, the Chief Public Defender of the Law Offices of the Public Defender, said the "federal government can and already does address immigration issues," and the measure "will not improve community safety."

"This proposal targets people who are merely charged — and may never be found to have committed a crime — based upon their assumed immigration status," said Bauer. "... Albuquerque should use its limited city resources to fight crime in ways that are proven to work."