SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico's governor is urging federal immigration authorities to open an investigation of conditions at a privately-managed processing center where Cuban migrants reportedly have attempted to kill themselves.
The office of Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham released letters Monday calling for an internal investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement of conditions at the Otero County Processing Center in southern New Mexico.
Lujan Grisham is requesting a probe by ICE's inspector general and urged acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan to intervene. She describes signs of cruel conditions and despair at the processing center 30 miles (20 kilometers) north of the U.S. border with Mexico at El Paso, Texas.
She says ICE's internal watchdog found egregious problems with unannounced visits last year to holding facilities in four other states.