Last month the U.S. Court of Appeals upheld an injunction on stops based on race, language, job, or location. As of Monday, this no longer holds true. The U.S. Supreme Court lifted restrictions on Los Angeles immigration stops made by federal agents working for Homeland Security or Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
While the decision is based on actions in L.A., New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez is concerned about wider implications in a state with the largest percentage of Latinos in the country.
“ICE will take the decision as a clear signal to engage in this kind of race-based pretextual stops across the country, including here in New Mexico,” Torrez said.
In the so-called “big beautiful budget reconciliation” bill, ICE got an additional $75 billion over the next four years to build detention centers and hire more personnel to amp up their arrest numbers. In fact, ICE is offering several incentives to work for their agency under the current administration. Some of these include:
- A maximum $50,000 signing bonus
- Up to $60,000 in federal student loan repayment or forgiveness
- A 25% premium pay for Homeland Security Investigations Special Agents.
Torrez said that ICE’s increased resources and pattern of race-based arrests are problematic.
“It undermines the basic values of this country and who we claim to be and who we are,” Torrez said.
According to the libertarian Cato Institute, 93% of people detained since the beginning of the current Trump Administration have no violent convictions and 65% of detainees have no criminal convictions at all.
In an analysis done last year by the Brookings Institution about the ways mass deportations hurt the U.S. economy and U.S.-born workers, it shows that every time ICE arrests increase, there is a decline in the percentage of immigrants arrested who are reported as “criminals.”
Right now, this decision does not affect New Mexicans. But Torrez advises folks to read up on their rights, ask agents to identify themselves, ask why they’re being detained, and record incidents. He also recommends not resisting arrest, to prevent escalation of harm against yourself and to your case.
He encouraged anyone who believes they were subjected to racial profiling to contact his office.
