NM props up oppressive systems by shunning what’s right in exchange for jobs

COMMENTARY: Oppressive systems survive by enticing us to put our self-interests above what’s right. That shameful truth was on display Monday at a state legislative hearing about federal immigration detention centers.

State Rep. Eliseo Lee Alcon, D-Milan, mentioned the importance of the Cibola County Correctional Center to his “little community,” according to New Mexico In Depth. “We have to find a way to keep people employed,” he said.

That’s why the detention center exists today – to keep New Mexicans employed. Operated by the private company CoreCivic, it’s an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Alcon’s hometown that houses asylum seekers and others.

The company that is now CoreCivic had operated the center for 16 years as a facility for federal prisoners when, in August 2016, the Obama administration decided to close it. Obama wanted to reduce dependence on private prisons after an audit found that they were more violent and problematic than prisons run by the federal government. The decision also followed investigative reports that revealed medical neglect and deaths at Cibola County and other facilities.

But wait, powerful New Mexico Democrats said. We need the jobs.

U.S. Sen. Tom Udall complained that closing the facility “so abruptly” would put 300 people out of work in a rural community that “already struggled with high unemployment.” Udall and U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich sent a letter to then-Deputy U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates asking to keep the prison open at least six months to give employees time to find new jobs, and to seek an “alternative use” for the prison.

Weeks later, the facility was repurposed – from a detention center for federal prisoners to a detention center for immigrants, and still run by the company whose track record helped spark the initial decision to close it.

That required the approval of Cibola County government, which serves as a pass-through for federal funds going to CoreCivic. State Attorney General Hector Balderas’ office and two agencies under Gov. Susana Martinez’s control also had to sign off.

New Mexico could have taken a stand against the private prison industry’s profiting off the detention of immigrants. Instead, we chose jobs.

Federal dollars flow to a private corporation. Campaign contributions flow to politicians. County government profits. People get paychecks.

The Obama-era story ends like this: The feds closed the facility in part for humanitarian reasons, then reopened it to house a different set of humans.

That pretty explicitly demonstrates that our society views immigrants as a class of people who are less deserving of humane treatment. It shows that others built the unwieldy, militarized immigration enforcement machine that President Donald Trump now deploys in the cruelest ways.

Democratic politicians are suddenly divesting themselves of campaign donations from private prison companies. Udall, Heinrich and Balderas regularly blast Trump’s treatment of immigrants. And on Monday, state lawmakers heard from immigrants who’ve been detained at federal facilities.

It’s easy for Democrats to stand up for immigrants now that Trump is president, and with their constituents’ jobs secure. Where was that same zeal for human rights when their party was in charge and New Mexicans’ jobs were at stake?

The scarcity mentality that leads us to sacrifice morality for jobs perpetuates the cycle of poverty and discourages healthy economic growth. It helps explains why New Mexico is at the bottom of the important lists.

We must march forward with our moral compass in hand, fighting this injustice regardless of who holds power. We must demand the same from leaders like our U.S. senators and attorney general.

Heath Haussamen is NMPolitics.net’s editor and publisher. Agree with his opinion? Disagree? NMPolitics.net welcomes your views. Learn about submitting your own commentary here.