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Immigrant-rights advocates urge Taos County to adopt employee protections; cite growing ICE enforcement
Summary
Speakers at the Taos County meeting urged county leaders to adopt policies protecting employees and residents from immigration enforcement, citing increased federal enforcement capacity and pointing to ACLU-model policies used elsewhere in New Mexico.
At the July 15 Taos County commission meeting, several public commenters urged the county to adopt employee and workplace policies to limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
"We're deeply concerned about the increasing probability of ICE presence," said Steve Albissimo, identifying himself and his affiliation with a Catholic immigrant advocacy group. He told the commission he fears detention capacity is expanding and said, "They're firing 10,000 new agents," urging the county to adopt employee protections and follow examples set by Santa Fe and other New Mexico jurisdictions.
Betsy Martinez, who identified herself as a member of Taos Immigrant Allies, voiced support for Albissimo's requests and asked for "strong policies comparable to what other cities have in New Mexico." Commenters cited the New Mexico ACLU’s Freedom City policy templates and asked the county to train staff and implement policies quickly to protect residents and employees.
No formal action was recorded on these requests in the excerpt. The public comment portion of the meeting was governed by the stated three‑minute limit for speakers; commissioners acknowledged the comments and moved on to the regular agenda.
