Heinrich Introduces Legislation to Redirect ICE Funding to Help New Mexico Law Enforcement Keep Communities Safe

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, joined 5 Senate Democrats to introduce the PUBLIC SAFETY Act, legislation that will redirect almost $75 billion from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and send it instead to local law enforcement to help keep communities safe in New Mexico and nationwide.

"New Mexicans deserve to be safe in their communities. And there's a lot of ways we can deliver on that by solving real crimes and holding violent criminals accountable. That's the work our local law enforcement do every day, and I know they could do a lot more with real resources. But we've seen how this administration has chosen to use these funds to weaponize ICE against our communities - and that doesn't make anyone safer.

"No one who commits a violent crime should get away with it. No one, no matter their immigration status. Our bill will put this money to use to make that a reality."

Under the Trump Administration, ICE has lowered its training and hiring standards, which has put undertrained and unvetted agents on the streets and strained already under-staffed police departments. Its recruitment efforts have also directly targeted local law enforcement, threatening to deplete already understaffed police departments. The funding the PUBLIC SAFETY Act would redirect was originally enacted in Republicans' Big, Bad Bill, which was signed into law in July 2025. This bill would not rescind ICE's regular appropriations, leaving the agency with historically normal funding levels to conduct traditional immigration enforcement operations.

The Providing Useful Budgets for Localities to Invest in Cops by Substituting Appropriations from Federal Enforcement To Yield Results (PUBLIC SAFETY) Act will prioritize effective law enforcement by investing in local police officers who undergo thorough training and have real ties to the communities they serve. Specifically, the PUBLIC SAFETY Act will:

• Reallocate $29.85 billion in Big, Bad Bill funds for ICE's enforcement and operations to the COPS Hiring Program for the hiring of over 200,000 local police officers nationwide;

• Waive the COPS Hiring Program's 25% cost-share requirement for small local and Tribal law enforcement agencies and police departments; and

• Reallocate $45 billion in Big, Bad Bill funds designated for unnecessary and harmful additions to ICE's detention capacity to the Byrne JAG program - the leading source of federal justice funding to state and local jurisdictions, which supports a range of program areas including law enforcement, prosecution, indigent defense, courts, crime prevention, and education.

The PUBLIC SAFETY Act is led by U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.). Alongside Heinrich, the legislation is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.).

A summary of the bill is here.

The text of the bill is here.

Heinrich's actions to protect Americans, Tribal members, and Dreamers from wrongful searches and harassment by ICE:

This Congress, Heinrich led colleagues to demand that DHS immediately end wrongful ICE searches and harassment of Tribal members. In a separate letter to President Trump, Heinrich demanded immediate action to address reports of ICE agents harassing, detaining, and questioning Tribal members about their citizenship. Heinrich condemned ICE's actions as unconstitutional and a violation of Tribal sovereignty. He called for swift action to end racial profiling and protect Native communities.

Additionally, Heinrich condemned the U.S. Supreme Court's decision lifting restrictions on federal immigration officers, including ICE and U.S. Border Patrol, from racially profiling people - including U.S. citizens - in the Los Angeles area solely based on their race, language, job and location.

Heinrich also pressed DHS Secretary Kristi Noem on the Trump Administration's wrongful targeting of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients in its cruel mass deportation scheme.

Furthermore, Heinrich led legislation to protect Dreamers' data and prevent DHS from referring Dreamers to ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

Heinrich's actions to support local law enforcement with the tools they need to keep our communities safe:

In Fiscal Year (FY26) appropriations funding, Heinrich secured U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee passage of over $6.5 million for nine local projects in New Mexico, including:

• $1,668,000 for the New Mexico Statewide Sexual Assault Program to increase capacity at the Helpline and Work Force Trauma Institute.

• $1,050,000 for the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office for forensic analysis and crime scene reconstruction equipment.

• $1,000,000 for the Las Cruces Police Department to establish an Evidence Processing Lab for local law enforcement agencies.

• $908,000 for the Albuquerque Police Department to purchase crime scene processing equipment at the Metropolitan Forensic Science Center.

• $629,000 for the City of Farmington to acquire forensic DNA and narcotics identification equipment, training, and personnel.

• $533,000 for Eastern New Mexico University Campus to enhance lighting and safety on campus.

• $350,000 for New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence to expand its youth gun violence prevention programs.

• $268,000 for the Doña Ana County Sheriff's Office to purchase mobile security trailers.

• $115,000 for Gallup Police Department to purchase crime scene reconstruction equipment.

Additionally, Heinrich successfully included $1,000,000 for the New Mexico Medical Investigator to enhance the DNA Processing Laboratory.

In the FY26 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, Heinrich successfully included language to:

• Combat Crimes on Tribal Lands: Heinrich successfully included language directing the Department of Justice (DOJ) to continue to allocate additional resources to address the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons, including providing sufficient funding to investigate, respond to, and prevent crimes in Tribal communities. Heinrich helped secure $95,000,000 within the Crime Victims Fund specifically for law enforcement efforts on Tribal lands and in order for federal, state, and tribal governments to coordinate on these critical public safety initiatives.

• Develop a Fentanyl Tracking System: Heinrich successfully included language directing the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to develop a comprehensive fentanyl tracking system. That tracking system would include documentation of seizure location, chemical composition, probable or known manufacturing location, and probable or known point of entry into the United States. Currently, fentanyl interdiction is compiled at land ports of entry by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), but the DEA does not have readily accessible tracking data on the movement of illicit drugs within the U.S. or their point of origin. Requiring the compilation and organization of that data will complement DHS' work and improve our country's work to effectively combat the fentanyl crisis.

• Prevent Firearm Straw Purchases: Heinrich successfully included language calling on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to continue its public awareness campaign to reduce firearm straw purchases at the retail level and to educate would-be straw purchasers of the penalties associated with knowingly participating in an illegal firearm purchase. This language builds on Heinrich's work to negotiate and author the provision in the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act that increased criminal penalties for straw purchases and made it illegal to traffic firearms out of the United States. To date, more than 1,000 defendants have been charged by the Department of Justice because of those provisions, removing hundreds of firearms from the streets.

• Remove Barriers to Lifesaving Medication: Heinrich successfully included language directing the DEA to take further action to remove barriers to access for opioid use disorder medications such as buprenorphine. The data clearly shows that prescriptions of medications for opioid use disorder significantly reduce the risk of overdose death, but despite their demonstrated effectiveness, approximately 87% of those suffering from opioid use disorder do not have a prescription for these lifesaving medications. The inclusion of this language will assist local medical and mental health providers and make medications, including buprenorphine, more accessible to New Mexicans.

This Congress, Heinrich successfully passed into law his Halt All Lethal Trafficking of (HALT) Fentanyl Act, legislation to permanently classify fentanyl-related substances (FRS) as Schedule I drugs, under the Controlled Substances Act. This permanent scheduling will give law enforcement added tools to help get extremely lethal and dangerous drugs off our streets, dismantle organized criminal trafficking operations, and keep New Mexicans safe.

Heinrich also cosponsored the Preventing Illegal Weapons Trafficking Act, legislation to protect communities from gun violence by requiring federal law enforcement to coordinate efforts to prevent the importation and trafficking of machinegun conversion devices including 'auto-sears' - illegal gun modification devices that can convert semi-automatic weapons into fully-automatic weapons - and seize all profits that come from the illegal trafficking of these devices.

Heinrich-led provisions in the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act increased criminal penalties for straw purchasers and made it a crime, for the first time ever, to traffic firearms out of the United States. Straw purchasers are people who buy guns for those who cannot buy them directly themselves due to their age, felony criminal convictions, or other limitations. By increasing penalties for straw purchasing, Heinrich's provision is helping to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and those who would use them against our communities. By making it illegal to traffic firearms out of the country, Heinrich's provision gave law enforcement the tools needed to prosecute and disrupt the flow of firearms to Mexico and the Northern Triangle, fueling the violence that has driven so many to flee their home countries.

In October 2024, Heinrich secured critical funding for New Mexico law enforcement to purchase four new NIBIN machines for Las Cruces, Farmington, Gallup, and Roswell. This allows law enforcement to trace firearms used in crimes and hold criminals accountable, all while saving officers valuable time and resources.

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