The Daily Fuckup

The Justice Department filed a lawsuit on May 8 seeking to block New Mexico and Albuquerque from enforcing two measures the department says interfere with federal immigration authority. The defendants include Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Attorney General Raúl Torrez and Mayor Tim Keller, along with the state and city. DOJ also asked for preliminary injunctive relief. No court has ruled yet. ([justice.gov](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-files-lawsuit-against-state-new-mexico-and-city-albuquerque-obstructing))

At the center of the case is House Bill 9, the Immigrant Safety Act, and Albuquerque Ordinance O-26-15, the city’s Safer Community Places Ordinance. The state bill says public bodies may not enter into or continue agreements used to detain people for federal civil immigration violations, and it bars the use of public property to facilitate that detention. The city says its ordinance sets clear boundaries for civil immigration enforcement on city property and public spaces, including parks, parking lots and garages. ([nmlegis.gov](https://www.nmlegis.gov/Sessions/26%20Regular/bills/house/HB0009.html))

In its complaint, DOJ argues that both measures block federal agents from using local property to carry out immigration work and that Albuquerque’s ordinance also requires private businesses to alert people about immigration enforcement activity. The department says those rules conflict with federal supremacy and asks the court to declare them invalid. The state and city have not yet filed a public response in the record cited here, and the lawsuit remains at the opening stage. ([justice.gov](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-files-lawsuit-against-state-new-mexico-and-city-albuquerque-obstructing))

The dispute is likely to turn on whether the challenged provisions are treated as ordinary limits on how local property and contracts can be used, or as unlawful interference with federal enforcement. HB 9 itself includes language saying it does not limit law enforcement’s ability to detain people or make brief investigative stops under state law. It also gives the attorney general or a district attorney authority to seek declaratory and injunctive relief if a violation is alleged. ([nmlegis.gov](https://www.nmlegis.gov/Sessions/26%20Regular/bills/house/HB0009.html))

For now, the immediate fact is simple: DOJ has put New Mexico and Albuquerque in federal court over how far local governments can go in restricting immigration-enforcement cooperation on public property. The legal fight has just started, and the laws remain subject to the outcome of that case. ([justice.gov](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-files-lawsuit-against-state-new-mexico-and-city-albuquerque-obstructing))