New Mexico immigrant advocacy groups are calling on lawmakers to pass a pair of data privacy and public safety bills this session, saying immigrants’ distrust in government following federal deportation threats is tearing holes in communities across the state.
Since President Donald Trump was inaugurated, immigrant families are increasingly afraid to send their kids to school, attend church, go to hospitals, report crimes, or interact with state and local governments in any way, said speakers at a rally in Albuquerque’s Barelas neighborhood Thursday morning. Communities suffer when immigrants are afraid to participate in civic life, they said.
NM immigration, civil rights groups back enhanced digital privacy protections
“Family separation is not just about individual deportation,” said Rosalinda Dorado, a leader at El Centro de Igualdad y Derechos, who said her brother was deported in 2010. “It is about breaking communities.”
To restore trust, speakers, including Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller, called on lawmakers to pass Senate Bills 36 and 250. SB36 would prohibit state Department of Motor Vehicles employees from disclosing driver data to any entity that would use it to enforce federal civil immigration laws. That includes requiring private companies that buy DMV data to certify they won’t use the data in service of deporting immigrants who aren’t accused of crimes.
Senate Bill 250 would prohibit any state and local funding or personnel from being used to enforce or investigate federal immigration laws, including identifying, arresting, or detaining a person suspected of being an undocumented immigrant.
Both bills are efforts, speakers said, to rebuild trust across the state and improve public safety by getting more buy-in from immigrant communities. Several big New Mexico cities, including Albuquerque and Las Cruces, have adopted similar policies against sharing data with or helping federal agents with deportations. Keller said the city deliberately doesn’t collect that data.
Several speakers represented groups advocating for domestic violence victims, who they fear are trapped in cycles of abuse for fear of speaking out. The First Judicial District Attorney recently told Source New Mexico that one domestic violence victim recently ceased contact, likely due to fear of being deported.
“No domestic violence survivor should have to choose between their safety and their privacy when personal information isn’t protected,” said Mary Ellen Garcia, executive director of the New Mexico Coalition Against Domestic Violence. “Trust in our institutions breaks down. Abusers go unpunished, and public safety is compromised.”
SB 36 passes the Senate
Several attendees and speakers at the Albuquerque rally rushed to Santa Fe afterward to hear Senate Bill 36 get its hearing on the Senate Floor. The bill, sponsored by Antoinette Sedillo Lopez (D-Albuquerque), spurred more than an hour of debate.
NM immigration, civil rights groups back enhanced digital privacy protections
“We need all New Mexicans, including immigrants, to continue to give their information to state agencies, including MVD, to ensure public safety across the state,” Sedillo-Lopez said.
Sedillo-Lopez said the MVD sells data to New Mexico Interactive, a private company that “slices and dices” the data and sells it to databases like LexisNexis or for other purposes.
Taxation and Revenue Communications Director Bobbie Marquez previously told Source New Mexico in a written statement that MVD releases data as necessary for state and local law enforcement, voter registration, vehicle recall notices, driver history checks, and other “critical government functions.” She also said the MVD would comply with the state law if amended.
Republicans in the Senate said they were concerned the bill would impede local law enforcement or draw the ire of President Trump. In a state that relies so heavily on federal dollars, it’s risky to do anything that might get in the way of his mass deportation goals, Republicans said.
“You think that the president, who ran on the fact that ‘If a state remains a sanctuary state, I’m going to pool their federal funding,’ isn’t going to? Seriously, you’re going to take that risk?” said Sen. Craig Brandt (D-Rio Rancho) to Sedillo-Lopez. “Well, you get to answer to your voters. Not me.”
Sen. Bill Sharer (D-Farmington) tried to refer the bill to the Senate Finance Committee to consider the potential of losing all of the state’s federal funding in retaliation for the bill, which the Senate voted down.
Ultimately, Senate Bill 36 passed along party lines. Brandt said he would possibly vote in favor of a measure to prohibit the state from selling all resident data to third parties. Sedillo Lopez said she would introduce that bill next year. “Maybe we could co-sponsor it, Sen. Brandt,” she said.
Senate Bill 250 has not yet been heard in committee. It will go before the Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee.
