SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE) – A bill to stop New Mexico detention centers from housing immigrants has failed in the state Senate. The bill would have blocked public bodies from entering into agreements to detain people for federal civil immigration violations and existing deals would be terminated. One detention center in Torrance County has come under fire for years over claims it put immigrants in unsanitary, unsafe conditions.
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One of the bill’s sponsors, Democratic Senator Antoinette Sedillo Lopez says people seeking asylum in the U.S. are being treated as criminals. However, on the Senate floor Tuesday, Republican Senator William Sharer questioned the vetting process at the border.
“So they are vetted with their passports. If there’s nothing wrong with a background check, the vast majority of them have sponsors or have family that they can go to,” said Sen. Sedillo Lopez (D-Albuquerque).
“This doesn’t sound like what I see at the border. What I see is streams of people that don’t appear to have any kind of ID. They certainly don’t appear to have a passport,” responded Sen. Sharer (R-Farmington).