Civil rights groups denounce that 48 ICE detainees have been ‘forcibly disappeared’

In the first week of March, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted an “enhanced enforcement operation” in New Mexico that resulted in the arrest of 48 people, as reported by the agency itself. Their names, whereabouts, whether they have access to counsel and which agency is holding them are all unknown, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which considers them to have been “forcibly disappeared.”

“This is not just a procedural issue, but a grave human rights violation,” said Rebecca Sheff, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of New Mexico. “When the government detains people and then their whereabouts are unknown and they are unreachable, it exempts them from the protection of the law. Families are left in agonizing uncertainty, desperate to contact their loved ones and ensure their safety. Enforced disappearances are prohibited by both our Constitution and international human rights laws,” she said.

Immigration authorities indicated that 20 of the detainees had been arrested or convicted of criminal offenses that included, in addition to homicide and sexual assault, driving under the influence and shoplifting. The latter two offenses were not considered grounds for deportation by the previous administration, but Trump signed the Laken Riley Act, which allows undocumented immigrants to be deported for these offenses. The remaining 28 were apprehended for immigration violations such as unlawful entry or re-entry. Of the 48 arrested, 21 had final orders of removal, according to ICE.

The ACLU, the civil rights organization responsible for most of the lawsuits filed against the Trump administration’s immigration policy, has sent a formal complaint to the Department of Homeland Security.

“We are alarmed and disturbed that these four dozen New Mexican individuals remain unidentified and that insufficient transparency, oversight, and accountability has taken place to date regarding their whereabouts and wellbeing. We call on your offices to exercise the full extent of your authorities to determine their current status and ensure their safety,” the complaint states.

The arrests took place in the New Mexico cities of Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Roswell, in an ICE operation that also involved U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the U.S. Marshal Service (USMS).

The ICE website has a detainee locator, but to use it, it is necessary to enter some identifying information such as name or immigration number and country of origin. Immigrant advocacy organizations are concerned that no one has sought them out, as is often the case, to report the detention of family members. Another reason, they explain, may be the fear unleashed by Trump’s push for deportations by invoking an 18th-century law designed for wartime and allowing for expulsions without due process.

Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport hundreds of Venezuelans to El Salvador who, according to the government, were suspected members of the Tren de Aragua gang. The deportations occurred last weekend despite a judge’s order to turn back the planes, opening a rift between the executive and judicial branches.

In addition to the ACLU, the New Mexico Immigrant Law Center and Somos Un Pueblo Unido have joined the protest. Immigrant advocates are calling for the passage of two laws being debated in the New Mexico Senate that would prevent local law enforcement from collaborating with immigration authorities.

“ICE has not indicated where any of them are being detained, whether they have access to counsel, in what conditions they are being held, or even which agency is holding them. These individuals have been effectively forcibly disappeared from our communities,” the ACLU complaint states.

These 48 arrests in New Mexico come at a critical time, as the Trump administration has resumed detaining families, including young children, in facilities run by CoreCivic and GEO Group, the nation's two largest private prison companies.

CoreCivic CEO Damon Hininger recently stated on an earnings call, regarding the Trump administration’s anti-immigrant executive actions, that “this is truly one of the most exciting periods in my career with the company” and that he expects “perhaps the most significant growth in our company’s history over the next several years.”

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