OPINION: Protecting families from ICE: We need to get this right

I don’t often write about immigration.

That may surprise people, given that I am the only formerly undocumented person currently serving in the New Mexico Legislature. But that choice has always been intentional.

I know intimately what it means to live with fear. I know what it feels like to love this country while struggling to be fully seen within it. I know the experience of working hard, contributing to your community and still being told — explicitly or implicitly — that you do not belong. And I have learned something else over time: What most protects immigrant families is not rhetoric or political theater, but practical, common-sense policy that keeps everyone safe.

That belief guides my work. I spend most of my time in the Legislature focused on public safety, health care, housing and education — policies that build stability, trust and dignity for all New Mexicans. These are the laws that allow families to seek medical care without fear, report crimes without hesitation, send their children to school and participate fully in their communities. When people feel safe, communities are safer.

Unfortunately, immigration policy is too often hijacked by grandstanding politicians who claim to know what is best for immigrant communities without ever listening to them. Their bombastic threats and performative posturing don’t just miss the mark — they actively put people in danger. Political stunts may generate headlines, but they also invite fear, chaos and in the worst cases, violence. That is the opposite of leadership.

What we are witnessing nationally is deeply disturbing. For many of us, recent events in Minnesota are not abstract news stories — they are our worst fears made real. Minnesota is not an anomaly. It is a warning. And the knowledge that similar harm could occur in counties across the state keeps me awake at night.

We know that federal immigration enforcement operates in New Mexico. But I also know that we have a responsibility — within our lawful authority — to protect families, reduce harm and refuse to be complicit in policies that undermine public safety and human dignity.

That is exactly what we are doing at the New Mexico Legislature.

House Bill 9, the Immigrant Safety Act, ends New Mexico’s complicity in immigrant detention. It prevents federal immigration authorities from using local governments to bypass transparency and public oversight, prohibits state and local agreements that detain people for civil immigration violations and bans the use of public land for immigration detention facilities.

Senate Bill 40, the Driver Privacy and Safety Act, protects New Mexicans by ensuring that license-plate reader data is used only for legitimate public safety purposes — not as a tool for immigration enforcement. This bill prevents surveillance technology from being weaponized to track, profile or target immigrant families.

Senate Bill 53, the Community and Health Information Safety and Privacy Act, strengthens protections around sensitive personal and health data. By limiting how this information can be collected, shared or sold, it reduces the risk of profiling, discrimination and targeting — and ensures that people can seek care, work and live without fear that their personal information will be misused.

In addition, I am sponsoring legislation to strengthen public safety, expand access to health care and housing, and lower the cost of living. In my experience, what truly protects immigrant families are policies grounded in reality — policies that make communities safer, more stable and more inclusive by design.

Are these bills enough? Of course not. We are living through one of the most frightening moments in recent memory. The foundations of our democracy — and the basic promise that everyone deserves dignity and due process — are under serious threat. Fear is tangible.

This is precisely when leadership matters most.

If you truly stand with immigrant communities, show it — but do not put families at risk in the process. If you oppose these bills, vote no. But do not invite federal interference into New Mexico under the guise of advice or political gamesmanship. That kind of recklessness carries real and lasting consequences.

Right now, New Mexico needs leaders who are focused, thoughtful and grounded in responsibility — not fear-mongering or ego. We need to get this right.

Lives are counting on us.

State Sen. Cindy Nava, D-Bernalillo, is a former Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipient and represents District 9 in the New Mexico Senate.