DETENTION CENTER EMPLOYEES OPPORTUNITIES

HM051

HOUSE MEMORIAL 51

57
th legislature
- STATE OF NEW MEXICO -
second session
, 2026

INTRODUCED BY

Anita Gonzales and Michelle Paulene Abeyta

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING STUDIES REGARDING EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR
EMPLOYEES OF CERTAIN DETENTION CENTERS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR
THE REUSE OR REPURPOSING OF DETENTION FACILITIES.

WHEREAS, House Bill 9, introduced in the second session of
the fifty-seventh legislature, would enact the Immigrant Safety
Act and would prohibit public bodies from being party to
agreements to detain individuals for federal civil immigration
violations; and

WHEREAS, New Mexico is home to three detention facilities
that contract with United States immigration and customs
enforcement, located in Cibola, Otero and Torrance counties;
and

WHEREAS, the three existing detention centers may have
employees who could experience a change in job status if the
existing contracts with United States immigration and customs
enforcement are discontinued; and

WHEREAS, the reliance on foreign private prison
corporations results in a lack of economic diversification and
a greater risk of economic instability; and

WHEREAS, if the physical facilities comprising those
detention centers were used for different purposes, those
facilities could meet broader community and state needs and
create sustainable rural economic development opportunities;
and

WHEREAS, since 2000, twenty-one states have partially
closed or fully closed at least one correctional facility,
resulting in a trend of prison repurposing in which old prisons
are converted for community and commercial use;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the economic
development department and the workforce solutions department
be requested to study ways in which jobs related to civil
immigration detention might be replaced with new employment
opportunities; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the children, youth and
families department, the corrections department and the health
care authority be requested to study ways in which the existing
detention facilities that contract with United States
immigration and customs enforcement might be used for other
purposes, including non-civil immigration detention, patient
health care and other purposes meeting community or state
needs; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the economic development
department be requested to study ways in which the state might
assist communities affected by the prohibition of civil
immigration detention through the use of state programs,
including rural development funds, the innovation in state
government fund and preferences in state procurement; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the results of the studies and
recommendations be delivered to the appropriate interim
legislative committees on or before October 1, 2026; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
transmitted to the secretary of children, youth and families,
the secretary of corrections, the secretary of economic
development, the secretary of health care authority and the
secretary of workforce solutions.

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