[Lwvcnmtopics] LWVCNM - Date Correction - Monthly Educational Meeting September 10 at Noon - Immigrant Detention in New Mexico

[LWV CentralNewMexico]

 Dear Members,

Please join us on Thursday September 10th at Noon for our monthly
educational meeting. The meeting is hybrid both in person and on Zoom. This
month's topic is Immigration Detention. Immigrant detention practices,
legal representation, conditions and access are an ongoing issue in New
Mexico. All New Mexico League members are welcome to attend. The Zoom
invitation follows the meeting description.

*JULY EDUCATIONAL MEETING*
*Thursday, September 10TH at Noon*

*WHERE:     LWVCNM Offices Conference Room, 6739 Academy Rd. NE, ample
parking   available*

*In person (members and guests only); Zoom (members and general public)*


*TOPIC:   **    IMMIGRANT DETENTION IN NEW MEXICO      *

*SPEAKERS:*   *PATRICIA BONILLA, Volunteers for Immigrants in Detention
(VIDA) Volunteer, and KELLY MCCLOSKEY, VIDA Volunteer Coordinator*


The September LWVCNM Educational Meeting will feature speakers from
Volunteers for Immigrants in Detention (VIDA) --  Patricia Bonilla, a VIDA
Volunteer, and Kelly McCloskey, the VIDA Volunteer Coordinator, addressing
the issue of immigrant detention in New Mexico.

*Pat Bonilla* has been a teacher of English as a Second Language (ESL) for
more than 50 years. Her students are adult immigrants from all over the
world. They have taught her so much!  Pat has lived for extended periods in
both Ecuador (her husband’s country) and Venezuela. Pat is doing a lot of
volunteer work with VIDA and with Encuentro, another organization helping
immigrant families. Over her years with VIDA, Pat has visited with hundreds
of men in Torrance and Cibola County detention centers. With Encuentro, her
main volunteer work now is tutoring students to pass their U.S. Citizenship
exam. Pat says “I’m always so happy to see the LWV registering new U.S.
Citizens at the swearing-in ceremonies!”

*Kelly McCloskey* will share the work that VIDA: Volunteers for Immigrants
in Detention - Albuquerque and the Deportation Defense Team of the New
Mexico Immigrant Law Center (NMILC) are doing at Cibola County Correctional
Center in Milan and at Torrance County Detention Facility in Estancia.
Recently retired from a 30-year career teaching French and Spanish, she is
the coordinator of VIDA and a legal assistant for the Deportation Defense
Team at NMILC.

VIDA is a group of volunteers who fight immigrant detention in New Mexico
and elsewhere. There will be an opportunity at the end of the meeting to
write handwritten CARDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT to men who are currently detained
at the Torrance and Cibola centers. VIDA will deliver the cards on their
next detention center visits.

Each day, thousands of immigrants are detained across the United States in
dedicated detention centers, prisons, and jails. Most people in ICE custody
are held in for-profit facilities. The United States operates the world’s
largest immigrant detention system. Leaders of both major political parties
continue to prioritize and fund it at high levels.

Most detained immigrants are held because of their immigration status. As
of February 7, 2026, 73.6% had no criminal convictions; some of the
remainder had convictions only for traffic violations or other nonviolent
offenses. People in ICE detention are held for unpredictable lengths of
time, enduring imprisonment and isolation while facing uncertainty about
their cases. VIDA volunteers provide a connection to the outside world, and
they serve as observers and advocates. *(cont.)*

CoreCivic operates two New Mexico prisons that detain immigrants for ICE:
Torrance County Detention Facility in Estancia and Cibola County
Correctional Center in Milan. VIDA visits and supports people at both
facilities, corresponds with detained immigrants nationwide, advocates on
their behalf, and exposes the human rights abuses they face. This work
advances the broader movement to close detention centers, end immigrant
detention, and increase public awareness of its realities.

VIDA conducts participatory defense campaigns for people whom pro bono
attorneys identify as wrongfully detained or otherwise treated unjustly.
With the client’s consent and guidance from counsel, volunteers and
organizers quickly publicize the person’s story and build support through
petitions, appeals to ICE, outreach to members of Congress and the media,
and other forms of public pressure.

Please join us to learn about this issue and the work this organization is
doing on behalf of these immigrants.

Zoom Invitation

LWVCNM is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Immigrant Detention In New Mexico
Time: Sep 10, 2026 12:00 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82898153910?pwd=tv4bPbgg1mqkCZJHAav3lIf8pqIHOK.1

Meeting chat link
https://us02web.zoom.us/launch/jc/82898153910

Meeting ID: 828 9815 3910
Passcode: 734255
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League of Women Voters of Central New Mexico
6739 Academy Rd. NE  Suite 124
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87109-3352



League of Women Voters of Central New Mexico
6739 Academy Rd. NE  Suite 124
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87109-3352
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