Federal lawsuit over New Mexico immigration law expands to Bernalillo County

The federal government added Bernalillo and Doña Ana counties to its lawsuit over New Mexico immigration laws. The Justice Department filed the case on May 8, 2026, arguing that House Bill 9 and related local limits on Immigration and Customs Enforcement interfere with federal immigration enforcement.

Nothing in Bernalillo County’s policies prohibits federal immigration enforcement, regulates federal officers or interferes with federal law. The county’s approach is meant to protect the safety, rights and dignity of residents and keep county resources out of immigration-enforcement operations. Because the case is pending, county officials said they would not comment further on the specifics.

Bernalillo County’s current position grew out of its November 18, 2025, ordinance creating Safer Community Places. Commissioners Adriann Barboa and Barbara Baca sponsored the measure, which passed 4-1 and cited Article 9, Section 12 of the New Mexico Constitution as authority for the county to provide safety, preserve health and promote prosperity. The ordinance would bar immigration enforcement from non-public areas of protected spaces without a warrant.

That local policy now sits beside House Bill 9, which Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed on February 5, 2026, and which took effect on May 20, 2026. The bill text requires public bodies, including counties and sheriff’s departments, to terminate covered detention agreements at the earliest date allowed under contract terms. The law bars public bodies from entering, renewing or continuing agreements used to detain people for federal civil immigration violations.

The complaint says the detention restrictions could jeopardize nearly 300 jobs in Otero County and threaten the economy built around the Otero County Processing Center, which the filing described as a federal immigration-detention facility holding up to 1,096 detainees.

Doña Ana County’s updated resolution, approved on May 12, 2026, bars county employees from using county resources to assist federal immigration enforcement except under a valid judicial warrant or subpoena. The county also directs limits on access to non-public areas and county records.