Latest news with #RebeccaSheff
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
ACLU New Mexico condemns military's role at southern border
NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico released a statement condemning the military's role at the international border in southern New Mexico. Military authorized to detain undocumented immigrants in New Mexico U.S. Northern Command (Northcom) announced Monday that troops can now temporarily detain and search trespassers, provide medical assistance and implement crowd control on the military-controlled land until appropriate law enforcement can take custody of an individual, according to a report by The Hill. Rebecca Sheff, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of New Mexico, said the military's expanded role at the southern border is concerning. 'The expansion of military detention powers in the 'New Mexico National Defense Area'—also known as the 'border buffer zone'—represents a dangerous erosion of the constitutional principle that the military should not be policing civilians,' a statement by Sheff read in part. This announcement comes days after Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum announced that the 109,651 acres of federal land in New Mexico along the Mexico border will be transferred to the Department of the Army to support U.S. Border Patrol operations. The U.S. Department of the Interior said troops would assist by constructing and maintaining border security infrastructure, increasing regular patrols by federal personnel, disrupting foreign terrorist threats to the country, and curbing illegal cross-border activities. Sheff's full statement can be read below: 'As New Mexicans, we have deep concerns about the enhanced militarization of our borderlands communities. The expansion of military detention powers in the 'New Mexico National Defense Area'—also known as the 'border buffer zone'—represents a dangerous erosion of the constitutional principle that the military should not be policing civilians. This approach seems to be akin to Texas's Operation Lone Star on steroids, threatening the longstanding relationships we've built with our neighboring communities in Mexico. By authorizing service members to detain, search, and conduct 'crowd control,' these new authorities undermine our state's values of dignity, respect, and community. We don't want militarized zones where border residents—including U.S. citizens—face potential prosecution simply for being in the wrong place. This isn't how we want to be in relation with our neighbors. This dangerous expansion of military authorities threatens both our civil liberties and the cultural fabric that makes our borderlands unique.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Lawyers say ICE ‘disappeared' 48 New Mexico residents: ‘Serious human rights violation'
Civil rights attorneys are sounding the alarm after 48 New Mexico residents 'disappeared' after their arrests by federal immigration enforcement agents this month. Immigration and Customs Enforcement 'has not indicated where any of them are being detained, whether they have access to counsel, in what conditions they are being held, or even which agency is holding them,' according to a federal complaint from the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico. They have been 'effectively forcibly disappeared from our communities,' attorneys wrote. At least 48 people ICE described as 'illegal aliens' were arrested in a week-long series of operations in Albuquerque, Roswell, and Santa Fe earlier this month, according to the agency. But only 21 people had final orders of removal from the country. 'This is not just a procedural issue — it's a serious human rights violation,' according to Rebecca Sheff, senior staff attorney at ACLU of New Mexico. 'When the government takes people into custody and then their whereabouts are unknown and they are unreachable, it places these individuals outside the protection of the law,' she said in a statement. 'Families are left in agonizing uncertainty, desperate to contact their loved ones and ensure their safety. Enforced disappearances are prohibited by both our Constitution and international human rights standards.' ICE's online detainee locator ostensibly lists where people are being held, as the agency typically moves people in detention from one facility to another — often in rural areas and states far from where they were arrested — before they are placed in removal proceedings. But anyone searching the database for information about a detainee would need a name or other identifying information to know where to look. Attorneys who provide legal assistance in the state's three ICE detention facilities are typically only able to schedule legal visits with detainees if they identify them beforehand, according to the complaint. 'We are alarmed and disturbed that these four dozen New Mexican individuals remain unidentified and that insufficient transparency, oversight, and accountability has taken place to date regarding their whereabouts and wellbeing,' attorneys wrote in a filing demanding action from the Department of Homeland Security. Court filings across the country have complained that the detainee locator system is slow to update to tell lawyers and families where their clients and relatives are jailed, often before it's too late. The database reportedly listed immigrants detained at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba as being in Florida, according to a federal lawsuit. In the case of Mahmoud Khalil, a green card holder who was among organizers of Columbia University's student-led protests against Israel's war in Gaza, his attorneys have suggested that the administration may have deliberately obscured his whereabouts during his transfer to a Louisiana detention center. 'When I was detained, my family had no idea where I was for days,' said Edwin Jesus Garcia Castillo, who was formerly detained at ICE's Torrance County Detention Facility in New Mexico. 'That feeling of being erased from the world — it's terrifying,' he said in a statement. 'These 48 people and their families are going through that right now. No one should face this kind of treatment in America.' The Independent has requested comment from the Department of Homeland Security and immigrant advocacy groups in New Mexico. The ACLU's complaint follows a series of aggressive anti-immigration actions from Donald Trump's administration, including the detention and attempted removal of Khalil and the deportation of an Ivy League doctor who was legally in the United States on a foreign worker visa. The president's secret removal of dozens of Venezuelan men who are now jailed in a notorious prison in El Salvador under a rarely used wartime authority is now under scrutiny in federal court. ICE officials have admitted in court documents that 'many' of those men had no criminal record but are considered 'terrorists' over their alleged connections to the Tren de Agua gang.
The Independent
18-03-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Lawyers say ICE ‘disappeared' 48 New Mexico residents: ‘Serious human rights violation'
Civil rights attorneys are sounding the alarm after 48 New Mexico residents 'disappeared' after their arrests by federal immigration enforcement agents this month. Immigration and Customs Enforcement 'has not indicated where any of them are being detained, whether they have access to counsel, in what conditions they are being held, or even which agency is holding them,' according to a federal complaint from the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico. They have been 'effectively forcibly disappeared from our communities,' attorneys wrote. At least 48 people ICE described as 'illegal aliens' were arrested in a week-long series of operations in Albuquerque, Roswell, and Santa Fe earlier this month, according to the agency. But only 21 people had final orders of removal from the country. 'This is not just a procedural issue — it's a serious human rights violation,' according to Rebecca Sheff, senior staff attorney at ACLU of New Mexico. 'When the government takes people into custody and then their whereabouts are unknown and they are unreachable, it places these individuals outside the protection of the law,' she said in a statement. 'Families are left in agonizing uncertainty, desperate to contact their loved ones and ensure their safety. Enforced disappearances are prohibited by both our Constitution and international human rights standards.' ICE's online detainee locator ostensibly lists where people are being held, as the agency typically moves people in detention from one facility to another — often in rural areas and states far from where they were arrested — before they are placed in removal proceedings. But anyone searching the database for information about a detainee would need a name or other identifying information to know where to look. Attorneys who provide legal assistance in the state's three ICE detention facilities are typically only able to schedule legal visits with detainees if they identify them beforehand, according to the complaint. 'We are alarmed and disturbed that these four dozen New Mexican individuals remain unidentified and that insufficient transparency, oversight, and accountability has taken place to date regarding their whereabouts and wellbeing,' attorneys wrote in a filing demanding action from the Department of Homeland Security. Court filings across the country have complained that the detainee locator system is slow to update to tell lawyers and families where their clients and relatives are jailed, often before it's too late. The database reportedly listed immigrants detained at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba as being in Florida, according to a federal lawsuit. In the case of Mahmoud Khalil, a green card holder who was among organizers of Columbia University's student-led protests against Israel's war in Gaza, his attorneys have suggested that the administration may have deliberately obscured his whereabouts during his transfer to a Louisiana detention center. 'When I was detained, my family had no idea where I was for days,' said Edwin Jesus Garcia Castillo, who was formerly detained at ICE's Torrance County Detention Facility in New Mexico. 'That feeling of being erased from the world — it's terrifying,' he said in a statement. 'These 48 people and their families are going through that right now. No one should face this kind of treatment in America.' The Independent has requested comment from the Department of Homeland Security and immigrant advocacy groups in New Mexico. The ACLU's complaint follows a series of aggressive anti-immigration actions from Donald Trump 's administration, including the detention and attempted removal of Khalil and the deportation of an Ivy League doctor who was legally in the United States on a foreign worker visa. The president's secret removal of dozens of Venezuelan men who are now jailed in a notorious prison in El Salvador under a rarely used wartime authority is now under scrutiny in federal court. ICE officials have admitted in court documents that 'many' of those men had no criminal record but are considered 'terrorists' over their alleged connections to the Tren de Agua gang.
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Yahoo
ACLU of New Mexico files formal complaint after recent ICE arrests
NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – The ACLU of New Mexico has filed a formal complaint after immigration officials took dozens of people into custody in the state. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said officers arrested 48 illegal aliens during a week-long operation in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Roswell including 20 with serious criminal history. Food banks urge leaders to fund program providing fresh produce to New Mexicans In a new complaint sent to the Department of Homeland Security, the ACLU said ICE did not disclose the identities of those arrested, where they are being detained, or what condition those facilities are in. It's also unclear if the detained individuals have access to legal counsel. 'We don't know what's happened to these four dozen New Mexicans. They have effectively disappeared,' said Rebecca Sheff, ACLU of New Mexico. The ACLU is calling on the Department of Homeland Security to investigate the matter. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Immigration attorneys file complaint about ICE raids in NM
Mar. 17—SANTA FE — Earlier this month, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 48 undocumented immigrants in New Mexico. Immigrant rights advocates and attorneys still don't know the names or locations of those individuals. A coalition of advocacy groups held a news conference Monday morning at the Capitol to announce a complaint the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico filed with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security over the weekend regarding the arrests and lack of information. They also urged state legislators to pass two immigration-related bills, one that would end civil immigration detainment in New Mexico, House Bill 9, and another barring the use of state resources for the enforcement of federal immigration arrests or detainment, Senate Bill 250. ICE, along with other federal agencies like the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in early March held a weeklong "enhanced enforcement operation" in Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Roswell, resulting in the arrests of 48 immigrants in the country unlawfully, 20 of whom had criminal charges or convictions, according to ICE. On March 16, ACLU-NM interim executive director Leon Howard and senior staff attorney Rebecca Sheff filed a complaint, which the ACLU shared with the Journal, about the operation to the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman, both of which are under the purview of DHS. The complaint included four requests: an investigation into the 48 arrests; ensuring the physical and psychological well-being of the arrested individuals; ensuring the arrested individuals are not retaliated against as a result of the complaint; and pursuing accountability for all involved personnel and contractors. "We don't know what's happened to these four dozen New Mexicans. They've effectively disappeared," Sheff said at the news conference. She said advocacy organizations — ACLU-NM, Somos un Pueblo Unido and New Mexico Immigrant Law Center — haven't encountered the unnamed 48 individuals in the ICE detention facilities in New Mexico and are unsure if the arrested immigrants are still in the U.S. She said DHS hadn't notified ACLU that it had received the complaint, as the complaint requested, as of Monday morning. Twenty-one of the arrested individuals have final orders of removal, according to ICE. "These arrests exemplify the type of criminals living among us and highlight ICE's commitment to our agency's primary mission — protect public safety," said Mary De Anda-Ybarra, enforcement and removal operations field office director in El Paso, in a statement on March 12. ICE didn't immediately respond to an inquiry from the Journal asking for the names and detainment locations of the arrested individuals or, alternatively, a reason for the anonymity. Meanwhile, legislative efforts related to immigration rights are inching along in the Roundhouse. But with less than a week left in the session, time is running out to get bills to the governor's desk. House Bill 9, the Immigrant Safety Act, is waiting for a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee and has already passed the House. Senate Bill 250, prohibiting state agencies from using resources to enforce federal immigration laws, is sitting on the Senate calendar and still needs to pass the House of Representatives. Despite the looming Saturday session deadline, advocates noted that there's still time. "People in our community are gone," said Marcela Díaz, founding executive director of Somos un Pueblo Unido. "Workers are gone. Family members are gone. Neighbors are gone. ... We have to be more bold in protecting our communities."
