U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez visited the Otero County Processing Center on Wednesday, where U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement incarcerates the majority of its detainees in New Mexico.
His visit occurred as Democratic members of Congress push for more access to and oversight of ICE detention facilities. While Vasquez was allowed access inside Wednesday, according to a news release from his office, he said he was not allowed to speak with ICE detainees despite his “lawful right to congressional oversight” and submitting privacy reports ahead of his visit.
In a statement, Vasquez said he is “all for measures that keep our borders and communities secure, but after my visit to the Otero Processing Center, it is only more clear that ICE is not making our communities safer.”
According to the latest data compiled by Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, Otero’s average daily population is 843 ICE detainees, an increase of about 35 inmates since January.
Vasquez’s office said more than 80% of detainees at Otero have no criminal charges or convictions. The national average of ICE detainees without criminal charges or convictions is 71%, according to TRAC data.
In addition to not being allowed to speak to detainees, Vasquez reported that ICE officials were “unwilling and unable” to provide clear answers about their treatment of detainees.
He also said inmate phones were broken and toilets would not flush.
Two other New Mexico centers hold ICE detainees. U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich visited the Torrance County Detention Center in June and reported “inadequate” and “inappropriate” conditions there.
The Cibola County Detention Center in Milan is also in Vasquez’s district. He last visited in January 2024, where he decried “privately-run immigration centers” that “have a history of abuse and neglect that must be addressed.”
Vasquez’s spokesperson Delaney Wehn told Source New Mexico in a text message Thursday that Vasquez has not tried to enter the facility yet during President Donald Trump’s second term in office. She declined to comment on whether he intended to.
All three New Mexico detention centers are detaining rising numbers of ICE detainees, according to TRAC. The recently enacted “Big Beautiful Bill” act greatly increases the ICE budget for immigration enforcement and detention, so immigrant advocacy groups in New Mexico expect the numbers to continue to rise.
Torrance’s average daily population of ICE detainees is 435, and Cibola’s is 227. That figure represents a rolling average based on the average number of detainees held each day divided by the number of days since Oct. 1, when the federal fiscal year began.
While no members of the New Mexico delegation have reported being turned away at ICE detention facilities, other members of Congress have said they’ve been denied access.
Concerns about detainee conditions and lack of transparency prompted Democratic lawmakers to sue the Trump administration on Wednesday.
Vasquez also noted that his bill, the Humane Accountability Act, would “increase transparency around ICE detention and strengthen reporting standards for how individuals are treated in federal detention centers.” He first introduced it in 2023 and reintroduced it in May.
