The Daily Fuckup

The Justice Department filed suit on May 8 against New Mexico, Albuquerque, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Attorney General Raul Torrez and Mayor Timothy Keller, seeking to block two local measures the department says interfere with federal immigration enforcement. The complaint and motion for preliminary injunction target House Bill 9, the Immigrant Safety Act, and Albuquerque Ordinance O-26-15, the Safer Community Places Ordinance. ([justice.gov](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-files-lawsuit-against-state-new-mexico-and-city-albuquerque-obstructing))

HB 9 says public bodies cannot enter agreements used to detain people for federal civil immigration violations and must end certain existing agreements. The statute also bars public bodies from using public property to facilitate detention for those violations. DOJ says that includes long-running local partnerships with federal authorities that help with immigration detention and transport. ([justice.gov](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-files-lawsuit-against-state-new-mexico-and-city-albuquerque-obstructing))

The Albuquerque ordinance is narrower in scope but follows the same basic idea: city property and city resources should not be used to assist federal immigration enforcement. DOJ says the ordinance bars the use of city property to carry out that work and requires notice to private businesses about certain immigration-enforcement activity. The city’s council materials identify the measure as the Safety and Privacy in Community Spaces ordinance. ([justice.gov](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-files-lawsuit-against-state-new-mexico-and-city-albuquerque-obstructing))

The lawsuit asks the court to declare both measures invalid and stop them from being enforced. It is the first filing, not a ruling, so the practical effect now is legal pressure, not a final change in policy. The case is United States v. State of New Mexico et al., filed in U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico. ([justice.gov](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-files-lawsuit-against-state-new-mexico-and-city-albuquerque-obstructing))

At bottom, the dispute is about who gets to control the ground rules for immigration enforcement on local property and in local institutions. New Mexico and Albuquerque say they are drawing limits around their own resources. DOJ says those limits cross the line into obstructing federal authority. The question now is whether a federal judge agrees. ([justice.gov](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-files-lawsuit-against-state-new-mexico-and-city-albuquerque-obstructing))