Legal rights advocates: Protect New Mexicans' data from getting to ICE, other states

In a time when federal immigration officials can conduct deportation raids in schools and churches, and women are encouraging others not to have menstrual tracking apps on their phones, New Mexico rights advocacy organizations are calling on the Legislature to codify data protection measures.

It’s commonplace for companies to buy data from other companies, often for advertising or market trend purposes. But it’s also something that could lead to the persecution of vulnerable communities, according to legal justice rights advocates.

“If you hand personal, sensitive information over to a state agency, that should not result in a deportation,” said Gabriela Ibañez Guzmán, staff attorney with Somos Un Pueblo Unido, at a virtual news conference on data privacy and protection held Thursday.

Somos is an immigrant-led nonprofit based in Santa Fe that worked with Justice Futures Law, another legal rights advocacy organization, to investigate how sensitive data gets shared via data brokers. The advocates support Senate Bill 36, which would prohibit state agencies from sharing data information unless necessary for a benefit or service. An example of that could be SNAP or Medicare applications, said Ibañez Guzmán.

“We want members of our community to know that, yes, it is safe to interact with state agencies,” she said.

Data-sharing information as a way to target immigrants isn’t a new problem and was happening under the Biden administration, said Laura Rivera, senior staff attorney with Just Futures Law.

“However, I will say that as we see the unfolding reports of an escalation of raids and of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement using more invasive surveillance tactics to carry out these raids, the availability of driver and vehicle data of New Mexico residents is more of a concern than ever,” she added, referencing the Trump administration.

There are a few different paths for data to end up with ICE, Rivera said. She explained that New Mexico’s Motor Vehicles Division has a data-sharing process with a private contractor called New Mexico Interactive, which then shares that data with different customers or state agencies, which then can share the information with ICE.

Another pathway for ICE to obtain information is via license plate readers, Rivera said. She said local agencies, including the Albuquerque Police Department and the University of New Mexico Police Department, share license plate reader data through a platform called Vigilant Solutions, which can possibly end up in ICE officials’ hands.

“From that, you can see how these pieces of information work in tandem to enable ICE’s invasive surveillance of all community members in New Mexico,” Rivera said.

Rivera added that local and state government agencies may not even know the data is eventually getting to ICE “and fueling deportations.”

MVD data is restricted “to the greatest extent possible” while still facilitating critical government functions like law enforcement activities, driver history checks and vehicle history reports, said MVD spokesperson Bobbie Marquez. She told the Journal that MVD expects lawmakers could consider changes to state law to further restrict the use of MVD data and the agency looks forward to those discussions.

Health care concerns

While abortion is legal in New Mexico, it’s not in Texas. That’s caused many neighboring state residents to flock to New Mexico for protection, and advocates want to ensure the health care data of those people, and New Mexicans themselves, is secure.

That’s where the Health Safety Data Act comes in. Its proposed health care privacy safeguards have garnered the support of local reproductive justice organization Bold Futures. Legislators haven’t filed the bill yet but are expected to.

“Protecting health data privacy is critical to ensuring all individuals can seek care without fear of their personal medical information being exploited,” said Kat Sanchez, policy director of Bold Futures.

Another bill Bold Futures supports is the Patient Record Privacy Act, also pending introduction. It would ensure sensitive medical information, including reproductive health care and gender-affirming care, is secured with strict data protections and prohibits disclosure with patient authorization, “even to out-of-state entities,” Sanchez said.

“Without robust state protections, sensitive medical information could be disclosed or even weaponized, putting patients in danger,” she said. “This bill ensures New Mexico remains a safe haven for those seeking care.”

People are often unaware that data about what accounts they follow online, like the Transgender Resource Center of New Mexico or other trans and nonbinary community groups, could make them targets, said Marshall Martinez, executive director of Equality New Mexico.

The core of the fight for liberation and protective policies for LGBTQ people, he said, is autonomy. So when it comes to data privacy, it’s about giving people autonomy over their own information, Martinez said.

“This is just an expansion of that continuous work we’ve been doing in that people deserve to own and be in control of and make decisions about their bodies, their lives and their destinies, and that includes the information about them that exists,” he said.

Equality New Mexico will support protective data legislation, which could be introduced sometime this week, he said.