New Mexico
Behind Detention Walls: Leonel’s Story
By Rebecca Sheff, Senior Staff Attorney at the ACLU of New Mexico & Zoe Bowman, Supervising Attorney at Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center
Editor’s note: Trigger Warning: this narrative mentions thoughts of self-harm and suicidal ideation. This is the third in a series of stories from inside the Otero County Processing Center, based on interviews conducted in the summer of 2024 by Colorado College students: Alex Reynolds, Sandra Torres, Karen Henriquez Fajardo, and Michelle Ortiz. We are grateful for their invaluable work on this project.
We spoke with Leonel Jose Rivas Gonzalez at the Otero County Processing Center in June 2024. Leonel is one of three men, represented by Las Americas, Center for Constitutional Rights, and the ACLU of New Mexico, who recently petitioned a federal district court to prevent their transfer to Guantánamo. Despite initially obtaining a temporary restraining order enjoining their transfer, Leonel and the other petitioners were deported to Venezuela on February 10, 2025—less than 24 hours after the court order was issued. They were put on the first deportation flights to Venezuela in over a year.
Leonel was born in Venezuela in 1997 and, along with his siblings, was raised by his grandparents after his mother passed away. Growing up, his family would gather to celebrate birthdays and Christmas together.
Leonel described himself as a “salsero” who enjoys dancing and sports, though he emphasized that more than anything, “I liked to study.” His dream of becoming a businessman led him to study sales and management. What he talked about loving most was “playing with my daughter” and his simple wish for “Un buen vivir”—a good life.
“I feel kidnapped…
Sometimes I could not stop crying,”
Leonel entered the US in December 2023 and was taken into ICE custody. An immigration judge ordered his deportation in March 2024. Months later, he was still detained in Otero, even though there were no deportation flights from the US to Venezuela due to the diplomatic breakdown between the two countries.
“I feel kidnapped,” Leonel told us.
He found the arbitrary rules at Otero dehumanizing: “You can’t even put your hand on another detainee’s shoulder without the guards coming at you. They see everything as bad.”
Leonel and other immigrants held in Otero were placed in solitary confinement as punishment for participating in a hunger strike protesting conditions at the Otero facility and ICE not responding to their release requests.
He spent 45 days in solitary. During this ordeal, “I thought about cutting my wrists,” he confessed, “but thinking about my [partner] and daughter gave me strength.” The guards sometimes “shut their windows,” intensifying his anxiety. “Sometimes I could not stop crying,” he said.
With only “a really small window” connecting him to the outside world, Leonel turned to reading—”mainly the Bible or Bible analysis books”—to maintain his sanity.
“Los Venezolanos no somos peligrosos a la sociedad.”
To cope with detention, Leonel watched TV and slept. He used to talk more with family, but the facility restricted calls and charged high rates. When mental health staff visited, he stayed silent, having heard that conditions are worse in the mental health clinic.
Leonel has held onto dreams for life beyond detention. He hopes to be reunited with his family, travel the country and see new sights, and work.
“Los Venezolanos no somos peligrosos a la sociedad,” Leonel emphasized—Venezuelans are not dangerous to society. His story, like Junior’s and Yofer’s, underscores why New Mexico must pass House Bill 9, the Immigrant Safety Act. Our state must not continue to enable a detention system that strips immigrants of their dignity, subjects them to arbitrary punishment, and denies them the chance to contribute to our communities.
NEW MEXICO (KRQE) — The Social Security Office released the most popular baby names for 2025 on Thursday. And here in New Mexico, we saw some familiar names top the charts once again.
Coming in at No. 1 for girls is Mia, and as for the boys, Noah ranks No. 1. That’s no change from 2024 when Mia and Noah also led the pack, both coming in at No 1. For 2025, there were a total of 66 babies named Mia and 115 babies named Noah, while in 2024, there were 81 Mias and 105 Noahs.
What do the names mean? Online sources list a few different interpretations for Mia, but one common association is with the Italian word “mia,” which means “mine.” As for Noah, the name is most commonly associated with the prominent bible figure. It’s thought to mean “rest,” or “comfort.”
Here’s a look at some of the other top baby names in New Mexico for 2025.
- Girls:
- Olivia (65 total)
- Sophia (65 total)
- Sofia (60 total)
- Camila (59 total)
- Eliana (57 total)
- Isabella (56 total)
- Amelia (53 total)
- Aria (45 total)
- Aurora (45 total)
- Boys:
- Liam (109 total)
- Mateo (99 total)
- Elijah (76 total)
- Santiago (70 total)
- Sebastian (69 total)
- Ezra (67 total)
- Elias (66 total)
- Ezekiel (66 total)
- Levi (69 total)
Nationally, Olivia and Liam are the most popular baby names, and have been for the past seven years, according to the Social Security Administration. As for the fastest-rising names, Klarity jumped nearly 1,400 spots on the girls’ list, and Kasai jumped 1,108 for boy names.
Other names rising in popularity for boys include Atlas, Adriel, Emiliano, Arthur, and Archer. On the girls’ list, Ailany, Sienna, Amara, and Georgia are becoming more popular.
You can find the full list by state online.
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LAS CRUCES, N.M. — An ‘imposter nurse’ in Las Cruces is facing 34 charges after nearly causing the death of a patient and illegally giving medications to patients under 18 years old.
A Doña Ana County grand jury indicted Margarita Gonzalez. She is accused of assuming the identities of nurses in Texas to get hired at four nursing facilities in Las Cruces:
- Village at Northrise
- Las Cruces Wellness and Rehabilitation
- Peak Behavioral Health
- Matrix Home Care
The New Mexico Department of Justice’s Medicaid Fraud and Elder Abuse Bureau investigated and discovered instances where Gonzalez illegally gave injections and dispensed prescriptions, including narcotics to eight inpatient residents under 18 years old.
An investigation also found Gonzalez was also about to allegedly give “an incorrect insulin dose” to a patient that they claim could’ve killed the patient if another nurse hadn’t caught the error.
Several facilities fired Gonzalez over patient safety concerns and an observed lack of knowledge.
“Impersonating a healthcare provider is a reckless and selfish crime that subjects those most vulnerable to risk of serious injury or death,” Attorney General Raúl Torrez said. “I will not tolerate those who risk the safety of patients or cause danger and unnecessary confusion within the healthcare system. These charges should keep anyone attempting to pose as a healthcare provider on notice: we will find you, and we will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law to protect New Mexicans.”
Gonzalez’s charges include identity theft, nursing without a license, abuse of a resident, distribution of controlled substances to a minor and fraud totaling over $25,000.
If convicted on all counts, Gonzalez could face up to 100 years in prison.
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