ICE confirms the CoreCivic contract but declines to release it
U.S. Immigration and Customs EnforcementICE spokesperson Leticia Zamarripa, by email to the Santa Fe New Mexican
An ICE spokesperson confirmed by email that the contract with CoreCivic was awarded April 30 with a May 1 start date, and declined to provide a copy or answer other questions, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported.
“ICE spokesperson Leticia Zamarripa wrote in an email Wednesday evening confirmed the contract was awarded April 30 with a start date of May 1, but declined to provide a copy of the contract or answer other questions.”
Reporting
Where this statement fits
ICE gives CoreCivic a no-bid contract to keep two New Mexico detention centers open; advocates sue for the records
After New Mexico barred counties from detention agreements with ICE, the agency gave CoreCivic a sole-source contract to keep holding immigrants at the Torrance County Detention Facility and the Cibola County Correctional Center. Immigrant legal advocates say ICE bypassed competitive bidding and have sued for the contract records. ICE's notice said CoreCivic was the only operator able to meet its requirements in time.
Source and context
Reporting
About this source
Report that ICE's direct contract with CoreCivic for the Cibola and Torrance facilities took effect May 1, 2026, with ICE's confirmation and comments from Innovation Law Lab and Cibola County's manager.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
ICE's direct contract with CoreCivic for the Cibola and Torrance detention facilities replaced the counties as intermediaries ahead of the Immigrant Safety Act's May 20 effective date.
After the quotation
The newspaper reported that the details, including the total contracted cap, were not publicly available, and that the USAspending.gov database showed $13.4 million awarded so far, with the contract set to last until April 30, 2027.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The reference point is ICE's sole-source contract with CoreCivic to keep detaining immigrants at the Torrance and Cibola facilities after the Immigrant Safety Act. ICE confirmed the award and its dates but declined to provide the contract or answer further questions, so we labeled it Explicitly declined. It offers no defense or explanation of the award, so Defended or excused does not fit.
- Recorded on
- Published here
More from this case
Read the full caseImmigrant law center says ICE is trying to evade New Mexico's law
New Mexico Immigrant Law Center
“Our communities spoke up and passed the Immigrant Safety Act to say that we refuse to be complicit in locking up immigrants, yet ICE is doing everything in its power to retain and expand Trump’s cruel detention and deportation machine in our state We’re requesting these documents because New Mexicans deserve to know why ICE and the Trump administration are attempting to evade our laws while they continue to subject people to inhumane detention.”Read statement
ACLU of New Mexico says ICE replaced one underhanded contract with another
ACLU of New Mexico
“We’re concerned that ICE just replaced one underhanded contract with another The state made it clear with the passage of the Immigrant Safety Act that New Mexico stands against the mistreatment and abuse of people in these detention facilities. ICE cannot continue to operate here without accountability.”Read statement
Cibola County manager says the county is relieved by ICE's direct contract with CoreCivic
Cibola County
“The jobs won’t go, and we’re very relieved — so relieved I was kind of concerned, because in state government procurement would take longer. They did it very quickly, and I don’t know how they did it, but they’re doing a federal procurement, not state”Read statement
Share or embed this statement
The embed keeps its attribution link to The Dispute Index. Credit the image to The Dispute Index and link to the statement page.
Cite this record
- Publisher
- The Dispute Index
- Title
- ICE confirms the CoreCivic contract but declines to release it
- First published
- Last updated
- Permalink
- https://disputeindex.com/events/6123-an-ice-spokesperson-confirmed-by-email-that-the
Last updated marks the most recent saved version of this published statement.
The Dispute Index. "ICE confirms the CoreCivic contract but declines to release it". First published: 2026-10-20. Last updated: 2026-10-20. https://disputeindex.com/events/6123-an-ice-spokesperson-confirmed-by-email-that-the