Council Votes down Councilor Dan Lewis’ dangerous amendment aimed at harming immigrants
Council protects privacy and safety in public spaces.
ALBUQUERQUE, NM – Today, the Albuquerque City Council voted down Councilor Dan Lewis’ floor amendment to ordinance O-26-15 on a 5-4 vote. Councilors Stephanie Telles, Klarissa Peña, Joaquin Baca, Nichole Rogers, and Tammy Fiebelkorn voted against the amendment. The amendment used multiple unconstitutional paths to intimidate City Councilors with lawsuits and to ultimately harm our immigrant community.
“This dangerous amendment brought forward by Councilor Dan Lewis was a smokescreen aimed to intimidate every single member of the Council with lawsuits,” said Councilor Stepanie Telles. “This amendment was a baseless, meritless, and legally dubious attempt at political gamesmanship when we are debating an ordinance created to safeguard our community from a lawless federal agency—ICE. Let’s not forget that on January 7th ICE murdered Renee Good by shooting her in the face, let’s not forget that on January 24th ICE murdered Alex Pretti by shooting him ten times. Above all, let’s not forget that as of last month, ICE is said to be holding 68,289 immigrants in their concentration camps, and that 43 people have died in ICE custody since their raids began. The main responsibility of any city government is to keep their community safe. Councilor Lewis can continue to posture and play politics while the rest of us do the work to keep Albuquerque safe.”
Councilor Dan Lewis’ floor amendment attempted to unlawfully waive or alter immunities established under the New Mexico Tort Claims Act. However, a municipal ordinance cannot lawfully waive or alter immunities established under the New Mexico Tort Claims Act.
Ultimately, federal law does not require municipalities to provide city property, facilities or operational support for federal immigration enforcement, and declining to provide such resources would not legally constitute “obstruction” of a federal warrant.