ICE expansion could cause numbers to swell in New Mexico detention centers

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

58% : Data shows ICE could potentially expand its beds in New Mexico by greater numbers than 950 even without the need for new construction.
52% : The detainee data provided by ICE for its facilities in Torrance, Cibola and Otero counties appears to refer only to the number of its beds under existing contracts -- not the space of the buildings, which have room for many more beds.
51% : While an ICE spokesperson wrote in an email its Torrance County facility has a capacity of 505 beds, a spokesperson for CoreCivic says it can hold "more than 900."The discrepancy between the capacity reported by the federal government and CoreCivic for the Cibola County Correctional Center is even more stark: ICE says it's 315; CoreCivic says "more than 1,110."N.M.
49% : Immigrant advocates and U.S. senators urged ICE to end its contract with private prison operator CoreCivic to run the facility after the Department of Homeland Security's Office of the Inspector General issued reports in 2022 detailing subpar conditions and lack of access to medical, legal and language services.
44% : But the federal agency isn't waiting to find out if Trump will make good on his campaign promise for mass deportations.
42% : The American Civil Liberties Union plans to advocate in the state's upcoming legislative session for a bill that would prohibit New Mexico counties from contracting with ICE for detention operations, ACLU of New Mexico senior staff attorney Rebecca Sheff said.
37% : "U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, a New Mexico Democrat, was one of several lawmakers who called for ICE to stop contracting with CoreCivic for operation of the Torrance County Detention Facility in 2022, citing grievous living conditions, critical staffing shortages and lack of access to legal services.
18% : 'Ready to litigate'About 46,250 undocumented immigrants living in New Mexico could be in danger of deportation if Trump follows through with his campaign promises, said Genovese, the lawyer with New Mexico Immigrant Law Center.

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