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Amid immigrant-friendly policies, ICE using jail records to find noncitizens

County officials say they have not helped agents find at least 11 defendants through searches of jail records

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Federal court records show U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is using county resources and databases to find noncitizens in jails around the state amid local policies that disallow cooperation with immigration enforcement.

Since September, ICE agents found noncitizens in county jails at least 11 times 鈥 six at the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center, four at the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Center and one at the Rio Arriba County Detention Center, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court for New Mexico.

In the majority of the cases, according to criminal complaints filed in the past year, the ICE agents found noncitizens 鈥渨hile conducting jail roster checks鈥 or 鈥渞unning rosters for incarcerated foreign nationals.鈥

The court records do not elaborate on those methods but in one instance, ICE was 鈥渃ontacted by another law enforcement agency鈥 about a defendant booked into MDC and in another instance the agency received an 鈥渋mmigration alien query鈥 on an inmate booked into the Santa Fe jail.

All of the defendants in those cases previously had been removed from the country, often after committing a crime and many having been deported multiple times. They were found by ICE in state jails after committing both low-level and serious offenses, from concealing their identity and DWI to drug trafficking and child abuse.

At least five of the defendants were found in jail records the same day they were booked, and three others had been released from jail to await trial before their arrest came to the attention of ICE agents. 

Some were booked with aliases and identified by agents through booking photographs, according to court records.

How Immigration and Customs Enforcement is locating the defendants in jails around the state is unclear to the municipalities that run the facilities, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not respond to questions on the matter.

A Santa Fe County spokesperson also did not respond to questions Tuesday, but a spokesperson with Bernalillo County says, in accordance with local policies that restrict cooperation with ICE, they had no part in helping agents.

鈥淢DC does not permit federal agencies access to MDC inmate records systems,鈥 MDC spokesperson Daniel Trujillo said in an email. He said MDC policy dictates that 鈥渋mmigration status for inmates is not collected, nor is it provided upon request.鈥

Trujillo said he did not know how ICE was checking the jail roster, but pointed out that the MDC custody list can be searched publicly .  

鈥淎s a matter of public information, MDC lists inmates in custody, including their respective charges and case numbers, on its website,鈥 Trujillo said. 鈥淎ny information otherwise gathered by outside agencies would not have been directly provided by accessing MDC inmate records systems.鈥

Assistance to ICE, he said, is limited to honoring federal warrants for in-custody inmates, which must be signed by a federal judge. 

Similar to MDC, Santa Fe County jail has an that鈥檚 available to the public online. 

For years, directives in cities and counties across the state have prevented the documentation of immigration status or collaboration with immigration enforcement. As the Trump administration began its immigration crackdown in 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice was ordered to investigate state and local leaders interfering with immigration enforcement, through policies and otherwise.

More recently, the federal government filed a lawsuit against the city of Albuquerque and state of New Mexico related to policies that restrict cooperation with ICE and ban local jurisdictions from contracting to house detainees.

That lawsuit, which state Attorney General Ra煤l Torrez has sought to have dismissed, is pending in federal court. 

In some of the federal cases spurred by ICE agents scouring jail records, the state dismissed the underlying charge due to the federal prosecution. In at least one case, it appears the local justice system is unaware of the federal government鈥檚 activities.

In the case of Juan Rodriguez Najera, he was arrested by ICE the same week he was placed on probation after pleading guilty to state charges. Apparently unaware of his arrest by federal agents, a probation officer issued a warrant for his arrest for violating his term, saying he absconded and 鈥渃urrently his whereabouts are unknown.鈥

Meanwhile, in federal court, Rodriguez Najera has pleaded guilty to reentry of a removed alien and faces up to 20 years in prison. Almost all of the defendants face the same penalty after pleading guilty to the same charge.

In the case of Edgar Hernandez-Lopez, his public defender is seeking to avoid such a punishment. In a sentencing memorandum filed in federal court, the attorney said his client was raised in Espa帽ola since the age of 5, 鈥渓ongstanding roots鈥 that kept him crossing the border again after each deportation.

The memorandum states Hernandez-Lopez鈥檚 prior criminal history, mainly domestic disputes, were 鈥渓argely the product of childhood trauma, instability, and deep family ties.鈥 The attorney wrote that Hernandez-Lopez, a father and grandfather in his 40s, has already spent 129 days behind bars and asked for a low-end sentence. 

鈥淎fter he serves a period of incarceration, he will be removed to Mexico. He will likely never be allowed to legally enter the 近距离内射合集 States,鈥 according to the memorandum, which stated that Hernandez-Lopez hoped to reunite with his youngest daughters in Mexico.