Governor turns down GOP legislators' invite to tour ICE detention facility

SANTA FE — Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is declining Republican legislators’ invitation to join them on a tour of one of New Mexico’s immigrant detention centers.

Two GOP legislators invited the governor this week to join them — and other Republican lawmakers — for a Monday tour of the Otero County Processing Center in Chaparral. The facility is one of the three U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, facilities in New Mexico that holds migrant detainees.

But a Lujan Grisham spokeswoman said Friday the governor would not be able to attend due to scheduling conflicts.

“The governor has a busy schedule on Monday and will not participate in this tour,” Lujan Grisham spokeswoman Lauren Thorp said. “However, her door is always open to lawmakers.”

Legislation banning New Mexico local governments from entering into contracts with federal agencies to detain immigrants for civil violations could be in the mix for a possible special session this fall.

Lujan Grisham’s chief general counsel told lawmakers last month the governor was considering adding the legislation to the special session agenda, along with several other proposals.

Given that backdrop, the interim Courts Corrections and Justice Committee had initially planned to tour the facility as part of its scheduled meeting in Las Cruces. But those plans were scuttled due to scheduling challenges that emerged following talks with Otero County officials, said Sen. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, the committee’s chairman.

Republican legislators then arranged their own tour through discussions with U.S. Department of Homeland Security staffers, setting the stage for the invite to the governor to be announced.

They said the tour could provide insights about possible federal funding losses and local employment implications, among other issues.

“We believe your participation would be instrumental in ensuring that any decisions made are fully informed and in the best interests of the people of New Mexico,” Sen. Crystal Brantley of Elephant Butte and Andrea Reeb of Clovis said in their invitation letter, referring to the special session.

The issue of elected officials visiting ICE facilities has emerged as a flashpoint during President Donald Trump’s second term in office.

A group of Democratic U.S. House members recently filed a lawsuit against ICE and Homeland Security for blocking or limiting their efforts to visit detention facilities.

U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez, D-N.M., who is not involved in the lawsuit, also recently visited the Otero County Processing Center, but said after the visit he was not allowed to meet with detainees or take photos.

New Mexico’s three private detention centers are located in Torrance, Cibola and Otero counties. They operate via intergovernmental service agreements between local counties and ICE.