HM 42

                                1  HOUSE MEMORIAL 42
                                2    57TH LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - SECOND SESSION, 2026
                                3  INTRODUCED BY
                                4  Anita Gonzales and Michelle Paulene Abeyta
                                5
                                6
                                7
                                8
                                9
                                10  A MEMORIAL
                                11   REQUESTING STUDIES REGARDING EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR
                                12   EMPLOYEES OF CERTAIN DETENTION CENTERS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR
                                13   THE REUSE OF FORMER DETENTION FACILITIES.
                                14
                                15  WHEREAS, House Bill 9, introduced in the second session of
                                16   the fifty-seventh legislature, would enact the Immigrant Safety
[bracketed material] = delete
                                17   Act and would prohibit public bodies from being party to
underscored material = new
                                18   agreements to detain individuals for federal civil immigration
                                19   violations; and
                                20  WHEREAS, New Mexico is home to three detention facilities
                                21   that contract with United States immigration and customs
                                22   enforcement, located in Cibola, Otero and Torrance counties;
                                23   and
                                24  WHEREAS, the three existing detention centers together
                                25   have more than seven hundred employees whose jobs may be lost
                                     .233571.2
                                1    if those detention centers are closed; and
                                2  WHEREAS, the closure of those detention centers would have
                                3    a severe negative impact on the local communities in which they
                                4    are located; and
                                5  WHEREAS, if the physical facilities comprising those
                                6    detention centers were used for different purposes, the adverse
                                7    employment and economic impact of closing those detention
                                8    centers would be reduced; and
                                9  WHEREAS, since 2000, twenty-one states have partially
                                10   closed or fully closed at least one correctional facility,
                                11   resulting in a trend of prison repurposing in which old prisons
                                12   are converted for community and commercial use;
                                13        NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF
                                14   REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the economic
                                15   development department and the workforce solutions department
                                16   be requested to study ways in which jobs related to the
[bracketed material] = delete
                                17   existing detention facilities that contract with United States
underscored material = new
                                18   immigration and customs enforcement might be replaced with new
                                19   employment opportunities; and
                                20        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the children, youth and
                                21   families department, the corrections department and the health
                                22   care authority be requested to study ways in which the existing
                                23   detention facilities that contract with United States
                                24   immigration and customs enforcement might be used for other
                                25   purposes, including juvenile detention and patient health care;
                                     .233571.2
                                                                     - 2 -
                                1    and
                                2  BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the economic development
                                3    department be requested to study ways in which the state might
                                4    assist communities adversely affected by the closure of
                                5    existing detention centers through the use of state programs,
                                6    including rural development funds, the innovation in state
                                7    government fund and preferences in state procurement; and
                                8  BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the results of the studies and
                                9    recommendations be delivered to the appropriate interim
                                10   legislative committees on or before October 1, 2026; and
                                11  BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
                                12   transmitted to the secretary of children, youth and families,
                                13   the secretary of corrections, the secretary of economic
                                14   development, the secretary of health care authority and the
                                15   secretary of workforce solutions.
                                16  - 3 -
[bracketed material] = delete
                                17
underscored material = new
                                18
                                19
                                20
                                21
                                22
                                23
                                24
                                25
                                     .233571.2