New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez has agreed not to enforce a new state law related to immigrant detention while a United States Department of Justice lawsuit seeking to invalidate the law plays out in federal court, according to a new filing in the case.
House Bill 9, also known as the Immigrant Safety Act, prohibits counties from contracting with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to hold immigrant detainees at local facilities. It would have gone into effect May 20.
But the Justice Department sued Torrez and New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham late last week, alleging the law is unconstitutional and would, if implemented, cause irreparable harm to Otero County, which owns an immigrant detention facility in Chaparral.
Late Wednesday, Torrez signed a letter to the court in which he agreed not to bring any litigation under House Bill 9 while the federal lawsuit unfolds. Holding off on enforcement will conserve judicial resources and “expeditiously move this litigation to resolution,” he wrote.
In exchange, Torrez’s filing notes that the federal government is withdrawing its request that a judge intervene immediately to prohibit HB9 enforcement. In addition to a lawsuit filed last week, federal lawyers with the USDOJ’s Civil Division sought a preliminary injunction that would have prohibited Torrez from enforcing the law under court order.
In his filing, Torrez specifically noted that he would not sue Otero County over its continued use of an ICE contract to house immigrant detainees at the Otero County Processing Center in Chaparral until a “final judgment on the merits” of the lawsuit has been reached.
Torrez’s filing also said declining to enforce the law at this time does not mean the state is admitting liability or fault in enacting or implementing HB9.
The USDOJ’s lawsuit also named the City of Albuquerque, alleging a city-wide ordinance that prohibits ICE from using city-owned property for immigration enforcement is also unconstitutional.
The city’s lawyers have not yet responded to the lawsuit in court filings, though Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said on social media recently that the city is ready to “defend our community, our values, and our public safety in court.”
