Senate Republicans set up immigration tip line to report undocumented violent criminals

Senate Republicans have set up an email tip line that allows New Mexicans to snitch on violent undocumented immigrants hiding from the law in their communities.

Senate Minority Leader Bill Sharer announced the new tip line Friday on the Senate floor. He said tips collected on the line would be shared with federal officials.

“We’re looking at the safety and welfare of everybody in the state, and that would include getting rid of the violent cartels — and I think on a federal level, that’s what we’re focused on,” he said.

A news release issued by the Senate Republican caucus states “two types of critical concerns” can be reported to senate.minority@nmlegis.gov.

The first involves “any instances of unfounded action by federal officials against U.S. citizens or legal residents within New Mexico.” This comes after reports of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents harassing, detaining and questioning Native Americans about their citizenship.

The beefed-up immigration enforcement follows the inauguration of Republican President Donald Trump, who vowed to crack down on border security and initiate mass deportations.

“There is certainly fear among some of our Native American populations about what’s going on at the federal level, and I acknowledge that,” Sharer said. “I want to make sure that the world knows, and certainly the Republicans are concerned, about that fear and want to address that.”

The tip line can also be used to report “the presence in any New Mexico community of violent illegal offenders attempting to evade capture by federal officials,” the news release states.

“If there’s cartel members out there that are doing bad things, contact us so that we can get the federal government to protect our communities from the violent cartels,” Sharer said.

“We’re concerned about this on both sides,” he added. “The people of New Mexico need to be protected. They need to be protected from undue attention, but they also need to be protected from the violent cartels.”

Sen. Harold Pope, D-Albuquerque, told Sharer he had questions and concerns about the tip line.

“I appreciate acknowledging the fear that folks are feeling about what’s going on with immigration policy in our tribal communities, but I think communities in general,” he said.

“I applaud having a tip line and a call line, but what I fear with this is what’s going to be done with this information,” he added.

Pope wanted to know what agencies would receive the tips and how the Republicans would make sure…