Barelas Neighborhood, Albuquerque, N.M. — By Jesse Jones — A coalition of local and state leaders convened in the Barelas neighborhood south of Downtown Albuquerque Tuesday to organize for a new city ordinance they designed to protect targeted members of the community from federal immigration actions that have rapidly expanded in scope and aggression under President Donald Trump.
The proposed Safer Community Places ordinance follows a series of recent arrests, including a domestic violence survivor detained by federal agents in unmarked cars just blocks from a police station last fall. Sachi Watase of the New Mexico Asian Family Center said the woman’s abuser filed for emergency sole custody of their child within days of her detention.
“When our system allows this to happen, it is not just enforcing policies — it’s traumatizing families and stealing childhoods,” Watase said Tuesday at a press conference at El Centro de Igualdad y Derechos.
Councilor Joaquín Baca spoke at the event on behalf of fellow sponsors Stephanie Telles, Nicole Rogers and Council President Klarissa Peña, who introduced the ordinance, which turns past resolutions into law and faces a full council vote March 16.
The measure requires judicial warrants for arrests at community sites and block city resources from aiding deportations.
“The federal government cannot do mass deportation in a minority-majority state like New Mexico without targeting all communities of color,” Baca said. “This isn’t just political — this is personal. They are targeting our families.”
The ordinance designates schools, clinics and shelters as “Safer Community Places,” requiring ICE agents to present judicial warrants before entry. It also blocks ICE from using city property for enforcement, and requires businesses to post signs marking private spaces and notify staff within 24 hours of federal I-9 audits.
The proposal also reaffirms the city’s commitment not to use municipal resources to assist ICE, mirroring a similar Bernalillo County ordinance approved in November.
Advocates say the ordinance addresses a troubling pattern of federal agents detaining people where they seek help. Fabiola Landeros, an immigration organizer at El Centro, said people are taken without their families knowing their location or how to reach them.
Telles told City Desk the ordinance responds to incidents already happening, citing her neighbor’s custody after being taken from his home early in the morning by ICE and a subsequent business raid.
“We have a moral obligation to protect our community in every single way we possibly can,” Telles said. “Because regardless of what we do, they are working to circumvent those processes… so we have to make sure we make it very hard for them to do that.”
Sen. Cindy Nava, D-Bernalillo, who co-sponsored HB9 and Senate Bill 40 — which extends privacy protections to license plate reader data — said misinformation is compounding the fear.
“Uncertainty is very real,” Nava told City Desk. “Instead of spreading fear, our communities should be empowered by understanding the law. That is a responsibility all elected officials share.”
Landeros said residents shouldn’t lose hope. “New Mexico is showing day by day that electeds are ready to fight and create more protections,” she said. “We can be an example for other states.”