Reports of Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducting operations in Española over the weekend quickly circulated on social media, causing a stir in the community.
A post on the Santa Clara Pueblo’s official Facebook page on Friday said ICE was conducting raids in Española and suggested tribal members carry documents to verify their citizenship.
The following day, a new post rescinded that information.
“The information provided about ICE in Española was incorrect,” the Saturday post said. “There is no confirmation of the cautionary notice sent yesterday.”
Española Police Chief Mizel Garcia said in a telephone call on Monday that someone mistook New Mexico Army National Guard Troops as officers from the federal law enforcement agency.
Santa Clara Pueblo Gov. James Naranjo said he received several phone calls about the presence of ICE in Española, but the reports were fabricated.
“Unfortunately, a lot of our people are on edge due to the activity across the county, you know, and the way ICE is invading a lot our people and detaining a lot of Americans,” he said.
Naranjo was a law enforcement officer for more than 20 years and worked with the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office.
“For us, being a former LEO, I am not going to subject my people to that kind of harassment,” he said.
He wants to be proactive to prevent false information from going out in the future.
“We are working on our communications and working with Española, Rio Arriba and of course the National Guard and State Police to assure that if they do come to our Valley, that our people are protected and their IDs are upgraded because I feel that it is uncalled for the way Americans are being detained when they rightfully belong here.,” Naranjo said. “We have been here since time immemorial.”
Tribal members have been detained by ICE in other parts of the country.
According to an article in Indian Country Today, at least five Native American men have been detained by ICE during immigration raids in Minneapolis.
Another article from USA Today recounts the experience of a Navajo man named Peter Yazzie who was also detained despite telling ICE officers where they could find his documents proving he is a U.S. citizen.
Garcia said he spoke with Naranjo regarding the posts and that they discussed communicating more often, but did not go into specifics about the phone call.
The Española Police Department does not have internal procedures as to how they would communicate with the public regarding ICE activities within the city.
Garcia said ICE operations are not under his purview since they are a separate law enforcement agency.
“We haven’t had to deal with it,” Garcia said. “We would want to be aware as to what is going on and would like to inform (people).”