Attorney General: Otero County Broke Law With ICE Contract Extension

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez ruled that Otero County violated the Open Meetings Act when commissioners voted on March 13 to extend the county's ICE detention contract for five years in an emergency meeting announced with just hours of notice. The 12-minute meeting, which included no commissioner questions, also banned the county from terminating the agreement — an apparent attempt to circumvent the Immigrant Safety Act, which takes effect May 20 and prohibits local governments from contracting with ICE. The Otero County Processing Center holds approximately 976 ICE detainees.