Leftists sit in makeshift cage outside of Roundhouse to protest ICE

Pro-illegal immigrant activists staged a small demonstration outside the New Mexico Roundhouse on Wednesday, upset that Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Democrat leaders didn’t include their pet proposal—a ban on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facilities—on the agenda for the special session.

For weeks, the far-left groups have clamored for the state to shut down ICE operations in New Mexico, even though the three detention centers in Otero, Torrance, and Cibola counties provide jobs, serve a critical law enforcement purpose, and support national immigration security. Their disappointment turned to theatrics on Wednesday as fewer than two dozen protesters built a makeshift “cage” and staged mock performances reading detainee complaints.

One protester, Fernanda Banda, whined that waiting until January for debate was “not good enough.” She added, “If the governor doesn’t want to put us on the agenda, we’ll bring detention to her.” Banda and others acted out scenes of victimhood, attempting to dramatize conditions at the Torrance County Detention Center.

Andres Esquivel, a spokesperson for the New Mexico Dream Team, struck a familiar note, claiming, “As people are getting picked up on the streets by ICE, they’re being thrown into cages, they’re being separated from their families.” In reality, those held in ICE custody are there because they have violated U.S. immigration law—not because agents are roaming around looking for random people to lock up.

Democrats themselves admitted the session was supposed to be “scaled back.” Gov. Lujan Grisham’s spokesman Michael Coleman previously stated that while she hopes to pass “the strongest bill possible” banning ICE detention centers, she left it out after legislative leaders pushed to narrow the session’s scope. Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth (D-Santa Fe) even conceded the measure doesn’t have a clear path forward in the Senate, saying bluntly, “I don’t know yet. That’s why we need the time to get it right.”

Still, the activists threw their tantrum. Jovanny Hernandez, another protester, declared, “New Mexico has an opportunity to end our complicity in the private prison carceral system for the detention of [illegal] immigrants.” Translation: they want New Mexico to stop enforcing immigration law altogether and turn the state into a sanctuary free-for-all.

Republicans, meanwhile, have taken a far more realistic approach. Back in August, GOP legislators toured the Otero County Processing Center and reported that conditions were fine. They praised the facility for providing jobs and supporting border enforcement. Contrary to the protesters’ doom-and-gloom narrative, these facilities help keep dangerous criminal aliens off the streets while bolstering the local economy. They are also state-of-the-art, beautiful, clean facilities.

The demonstration fizzled out by the afternoon, but not before activists once again revealed their true priorities: undermining federal immigration enforcement and indulging in political theater. With so many pressing crises facing New Mexico—crime, a doctor shortage, and an unraveling child welfare system—Democrat leaders were right to sideline this fringe issue.

The fact remains: ICE detention centers are lawful, necessary, and beneficial to New Mexico communities. The handful of protesters playing jailhouse in front of the Roundhouse may have made for good photo-ops, but their antics don’t change reality. Just like the Palestine protesters who regularly disrupt events across the country with shrill, uninformed theatrics, these anti-ICE activists showed once again that they care more about radical symbolism than about solutions.