Residents urge protections, rights education for immigrants during public comment

Multiple speakers used the public-comment period to urge the City Commission to take steps to protect immigrants and to provide community support, training and legal resources.

Virginia (no last name provided) spoke as a child of immigrants and said immigrant families in Hobbs live in fear of separation, detention and losing their livelihoods. She urged the city and community to organize "rapid response networks" and train residents on legal rights so people are not caught off guard.

Araceli Ma, an educator, described classroom impacts, saying children cannot learn when they fear their parents may be detained. Caitlin Burns, also a teacher, asked commissioners to put political beliefs aside and help youth feel safe in city-run facilities. Angelica Alvarado described economic and social contributions of undocumented workers to local industries including agriculture, construction, hospitality and oil fields and cited national tax contribution figures reported in her remarks.

Stephen Helmreich, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church, noted the city’s earlier work on homelessness and said his denomination has a tradition of accompaniment for immigrants. He asked the commission to act within local authority to protect immigrants and referenced the city’s human-rights ordinance protecting sexual orientation and gender identity, urging the commission to uphold that ordinance.

At the end of the meeting an unidentified speaker who said they serve on the local school board told commenters that the district has a plan and that "nobody's gonna come into the classroom and take a kid," saying the superintendent has safeguards in effect.

These remarks were part of the meeting’s public-comment portion and did not result in formal commission action during this session.