The Otero County Commission voted Wednesday night to once again extend its federal immigrant detention contract, setting up a growing legal battle with the State of New Mexico as a new law banning such agreements is set to take effect in May.
The unanimous vote extends the county’s agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and private prison operator Management and Training Corporation (MTC), allowing the Otero County Processing Center in Chaparral to continue housing federal immigration detainees.
The move comes after the far-left Democrat-led New Mexico Department of Justice under Attorney General Raúl Torrez claimed that the county’s previous attempt earlier this month to extend the contract violated the state’s Open Meetings Act, rendering that earlier extension invalid, despite the meeting being completely legal and valid in every possible way.
During Wednesday’s meeting, Otero County Attorney R.B. Nichols told commissioners that the county was re-approving the agreement in an effort to address the state’s transparency concerns, while still disputing that the earlier emergency meeting had been unlawful. He also warned that the state had introduced a new legal argument just hours before the meeting, claiming the contract was void because it had not been approved by the New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration under the Joint Powers Agreements Act.
Nichols strongly rejected that claim, arguing the agreement with ICE is a federal contract governed by federal law, not a joint powers agreement between government entities. He also noted that similar ICE contracts in Otero, Torrance, and Cibola counties had never previously required state approval.
“The selective application of this theory on the afternoon of tonight’s meeting speaks for itself,” Nichols said during the meeting.
According to reporting from Source New Mexico, “In response to a Source NM question about whether Otero or other counties with ICE contracts have been required to receive state approval in the past, (NMDOJ Chief of Staff Lauren) Rodriguez said in an email late Wednesday evening that, ‘It is always incumbent upon local jurisdictions to follow the law. We will continue to monitor and review this process.’”
At the center of the dispute is House Bill 9, passed during the 2026 legislative session, which bans local governments in New Mexico from entering into or renewing contracts to house federal immigration detainees. The law takes effect in May.
County officials say they must continue the ICE contract to pay off revenue bonds issued to build the detention facility nearly two decades ago. According to county officials, more than $60 million in bonds remain tied to the facility, and the contract revenue is the only source used to repay that debt.
Nichols warned that if the contract is voided and the revenue stream disappears, the bonds could go into default, potentially damaging the county’s credit rating and increasing borrowing costs for future projects such as roads, schools, and public safety infrastructure.
He also warned that if the facility were forced to close, the property could be foreclosed on and sold to a private company, which could then contract directly with ICE anyway — meaning the detention operations would continue, but the county would lose the facility and its revenue while local workers would still face disruption.
Public comment during the meeting included criticism from residents who said county officials should have planned ahead for the possibility that the state would eventually prohibit ICE detention contracts and should have developed alternative revenue sources earlier.
After the vote, the commission also re-approved a resolution allowing the county to hire outside legal counsel and then went into executive session to discuss potential litigation related to House Bill 9 and the Department of Justice’s actions.
The dispute between Otero County and the state is now likely headed toward a legal showdown over whether the county can continue its ICE contract and whether the state has the authority to block the agreement once House Bill 9 takes effect.
With hundreds of jobs, millions in county revenue, and the future of the detention facility at stake, the outcome of the legal fight could have major implications not only for Otero County but also for other New Mexico counties with similar federal detention agreements.
Watch Otero County’s special meeting here:
It’s about time someone stood up against this ungodly administration and the far left attorney general. He so needs to be removed along with his evil queen MLG!
It is important to have ICE here and finding and deporting all who are here in NM illegally.
Good for you, Otero County!
Oh, good. Let’s show the nation, and the world, the real nature of stupidity in governance.
the state of NM fights like hell to make sure working americans lose their jobs, in the name of protecting illegal aliens who have no legal right to be here or work here. the state of NM are dip wads. Democrat crap hole state.
Federal law trumps state law.
instead of finding and prosecuting fraud and corruption / theft of social services in NM Raul Torrez goes after working people. as if NM has job opportunities anywhere. what an absolute phony loser he is.
just one more democrat claiming to be for working people as he puts them out of work. and the people of NM accept it. WHY ?
Very good and courageous move! Well done Otero County!
Once again the state of New Mexico shows it supports the fringe marxist left over its citizens.
Under the DemonRat’s the state of NM has gone to hell, thank you Otero County. Time to flush the toilet in Santa Fe this November.