ICE Disappears at Least 48 New Mexico Residents

Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 48 people in New Mexico, most of whom have no criminal record, in a week of raids that finished 8 March 2025.

On 12 March, ICE announced it had detained 48 “illegal aliens” in the country with deportation orders or who were charged or convicted of serious crimes. ICE claimed to have  final orders of deportation for 21 with charges or convictions for such crimes as homicide, sexual offenses, burglary or battery. ICE said the remaining 27 entered the USA illegally or re-entered without proper authorization.

The immigrants were taken from Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Roswell and have been disappeared. As of 17 March, their identities, locations, conditions, status, reasons for being detained and whether they have access to legal representation or interpreters are unavailable from ICE. Without their identities, the locator system normally used to trace people it detains is useless.

A coalition of groups involved with immigrants’ rights advocacy, most prominently including the American Civil Liberties Union, filed a formal complaint with the Department of Homeland Security. The groups say there is an unusual lack of inquiries from spouses or relatives of the missing people, perhaps due to concern about being added to the deportation round-up if they draw attention by inquiring.

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