What Democrats should know about Mayoral candidate Alex Uballez’s record.

“Progressive” Democrat Alex Uballez sentenced juveniles to decades in prison—and worked with ICE to send immigrants to prison or have them deported. 

At a Sept. 17, 2025 police forum, Alex Uballez bragged about sentencing juveniles to decades in prison. 

MODERATOR: As Mayor, what can you do to combat crimes perpetrated by juveniles?

ALEX UBALLEZ: So yes, we have to solve crimes. We have to hold people accountable. I'm probably the only person up here who sentenced a juvenile to decades in prison. 

Audio clip here.

Red Flags in Uballez’s Statement (regarding harsh sentencing)

Bragging about harsh sentencing of juveniles: He says, “I’m probably the only person up here who sentenced a juvenile man to decades in prison.” This signals a “tough-on-crime” mindset tied to mass incarceration — especially troubling given growing awareness of how long prison terms devastate young people, families, and communities of color.

Focus on punishment as a credential: While he talks about forgiveness and opportunities, he highlights his record of long prison sentences as proof of experience. This is more punitive than rehabilitative, which is out of step with youth justice reforms many Democrats support.

At a Sept. 17, 2025 police forum, Alex Uballez bragged about deporting immigrants with ICE.

MODERATOR: Mr. Uballez, what is your stance on sanctuary cities and undocumented immigrants in Albuquerque? And what part do you feel the police should be taking?

ALEX UBALLEZ:  I can say this as the only person up here who's done federal criminal immigration enforcement myself. The only person up here who has actually targeted folks with Title VIII, which is an immigration enforcement, and sent them to prison or had them deported.

Audio clip here.

Red Flags in Uballez’s Statement regarding deporting immigrants

Bragged about deportations: He said he has “targeted folks with Title 8 … and sent them to prison or had them deported.” That’s not immigrant-friendly — that’s exactly what immigrant families fear most.

Touts federal immigration enforcement as a qualification: While communities were fighting back against Trump’s ICE raids, he was part of the system carrying them out.

Out of step with progressive values: Bragging about deportations is the opposite of what young voters, immigrant advocates, and progressive Democrats expect from a candidate running in Albuquerque, one of the most immigrant-friendly cities in the nation.

Keller vs. Uballez

Keller: Created the Office of Immigrant Affairs, stopped APD from acting as ICE, and expanded Albuquerque’s immigrant-friendly protections.
Uballez: Brags about using Title VIII to deport people and doing federal immigration enforcement himself.

“Progressive” Democrat Alex Uballez would have stayed and worked with Trump as recently as January of this year. 

In an NM In Focus on January 12, 2025, Alex Uballez said he would continue working for the Trump administration, if asked.

REPORTER JEFF PROCTOR: So, your commission technically would run through May of 2026. What are you planning to do, in terms of this job that you have right now, after Inauguration Day?

ALEX UBALLEZ: That’s right. So, because my commission says four years, I plan to serve four years. It also says that I serve at the pleasure of the president. So as long as I serve in that capacity, I will. I intend to stay here until I’m asked to resign or leave. 

Red Flags about Uballez Statement

In January 2025, Uballez was willing to remain part of an administration known for its attacks on immigrants, civil rights, and democratic norms. 

He only left when fired. Uballez didn’t step down on principle. He didn’t walk away when the Trump DOJ separated families at the border or targeted immigrant communities through Operation Legend. He was removed when the Trump administration replaced U.S. Attorneys, not because he chose to part ways with Trump’s agenda. 

Questions About Alex Uballez’s Role in Trump-Era Operations

Background

• Uballez’s Role: As an Assistant U.S. Attorney under Trump, Alex Uballez was involved in Operation Relentless Pursuit (2020) and its successor Operation Legend (2020)—federal initiatives led by Attorney General Bill Barr.

• Nature of Programs: Both programs focused on federal crime enforcement in U.S. cities, including Albuquerque.

• Critics saw them as political stunts timed for Trump’s 2020 reelection, prioritizing enforcement over solutions and often infringing on civil rights.

Controversies and Criticism

Civil Rights Concerns

• Civil Rights Concerns: Critics argued the programs:

• Targeted minority communities.

• Punished minor crimes while failing to address major crimes.

• Profiled protestors and infringed on First Amendment rights (ACLU of New Mexico).

Local Pushback

• Mayor Keller and Chief Geier opposed the program, calling it a “stunt” that arrived as homicides were actually declining. 

• Other NM leaders—Gov. Lujan Grisham, AG Balderas, and Sen. Heinrich—also raised alarms.

• Political Use: Trump touted Operation Legend at rallies. GOP leaders (Steve Pearce) praised it as evidence Trump “gets results.” Critics called it an election-year PR move. newmexico.gop, 10/14/20]
  

Uballez’s Specific Involvement

Operation Relentless Pursuit (early 2020): Uballez was one of the prosecutors on the case of Daniel Montoya, charged with assaulting a federal officer. [justice.gov, 3/5/2020]

Operation Legend (mid-late 2020):

• Uballez’s office prosecuted cases tied to the initiative, including drug trafficking and firearm cases at Albuquerque’s Motel 6 on Carlisle.

• He appeared in DOJ press releases touting these prosecutions.

• As U.S. Attorney (2025): Uballez continued to tout these cases, taking credit for prosecutions that originated during Trump’s Operation Legend. [justice.gov, 1/30/2025]

Key Questions Raised

Transparency: Why did Uballez decline to answer media questions (FOIA requests, Lissa Knudsen’s reporting) about his role in Operation Legend? See former NM Source reporter Lissa Knudsen’s Facebook post and supporting documents here.

Accountability: Does he stand by his work on programs widely seen as targeting minority communities and bolstering Trump’s reelection campaign? [lcsun-news.com, 10/14/20; americanoversight.org, 11/23/21]

Alignment: While local leaders resisted Trump’s overreach, why was Uballez embracing and later celebrating his role in these initiatives?

Political Implications

• Contrast with Keller: While Mayor Keller publicly fought Operation Legend as dangerous federal overreach, Uballez embraced and executed it.

• Uballez was “Trump’s prosecutor” in Albuquerque, helping implement Barr and Trump’s agenda—even when it meant infringing on civil rights.

Uballez’ Poor Record on Indigenous Rights

Uballez’s Office Was Accused in Lawsuit of Systemic Bias against Indigenous Women

In 2025, a Woman and Her Child Sued the U.S. Attorney for Failing to Prosecute a Former Tribal Governor Accused of Sexually Assaulting a Child. An unnamed mother and her child filed a lawsuit against the U.S. attorney for failing to prosecute Daniel Joshua Madalena, a former governor of an Indigenous community accused of sexually assaulting a young girl when she was between seven and nine years old. The complaint stated, “The United States Attorney and employees of the FBI owed Jane Doe a duty to coordinate with the Pueblo of Jemez law enforcement officials or justice officials and breached their duty to coordinate because they have for more than 670 days - withheld critical evidence collected during Jane Doe's forensic interview…The Unknown FBI Agent terminated the investigation without referral for prosecution, or the United States Attorney declined prosecution of the case.” [Lawsuit accuses former Jemez Pueblo governor of sexual assault, Santa Fe New Mexican, 2/21/25]

The Lawsuit Claimed Systemic Bias against Indigenous Women. The lawsuit stated, “The negligence of the United States in Jane Doe’s case is part of an enduring history of discrimination, neglect, and indifference toward Indigenous Women. This systemic bias, born of racial prejudice and gendered violence, highlights a longstanding failure by federal law enforcement.” [Lawsuit accuses former Jemez Pueblo governor of sexual assault, Santa Fe New Mexican, 2/21/25]

In 2024, Uballez Supported the Work of the Justice Department’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Outreach Program. Uballez supported the Justice Department’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons outreach program. “Providing those bridges between those agencies is critical to seeing the patterns that affect all of our communities,” he said. “None of our borders that we have drawn prevents the spillover of impacts on communities – across tribal communities, across states, across the nation, across international borders.” [Bismarck Tribune, 5/7/24]

For context

It is extremely rare for victims to sue prosecutors for not bringing charges because prosecutors generally have broad discretion and are protected by immunity. These cases usually focus on accountability, transparency, and the perception that federal prosecutors failed Indigenous victims—something that has been a longstanding concern in New Mexico and across Indian Country.

Office Failed to Notify Family of Indigenous Man Who Died in 2024

A 2024 Report Noted that the FBI and U.S. Attorney Failed to Notify the Family of a Navajo Man Who Had Been Killed. A 2024 report noted that federal prosecutors knew that Philbert Shorty had been killed by a man who was also accused of killing his uncle. The report noted:

It was the winter of 2021 when Philbert Shorty's family found his abandoned car stuck in the mud outside the small community of Tsaile near the Arizona-New Mexico state line. "We knew something happened from the get-go," said his uncle, Ben Shorty. "We couldn't find any answers."

Family members reported the 44-year-old man missing. And for the next two years, they searched, hiking through remote canyons on the Navajo Nation, placing advertisements on the radio and posting across social media in hopes of unearthing any clues. 

The efforts produced nothing. They had no way of knowing he'd been killed more than a week before they reported him missing. 

They remained unaware even as U.S. prosecutors finalized a plea deal last summer with Shiloh Aaron Oldrock, who was charged in connection with Shorty's death as a result of a separate investigation into the killing and beheading of Oldrock's uncle. The 30-year-old Fargo, North Dakota, man told authorities his uncle had threatened to kill him during an alcohol-fueled fight that came eight months after the pair conspired to cover up Shorty's death by dismembering and burning his body on Jan. 29, 2021…

Shorty's family "had been left in the dark about what happened," U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico Alexander Uballez acknowledged in a November sentencing memo that referred to Shorty by only his initials PS. Wrote Uballez: "They are just beginning to grieve as they were only informed recently that PS was deceased, rather than missing." 

Uballez expressed hope that putting Oldrock behind bars would bring some closure, saying that Shorty's elderly aunt could stop looking down the driveway in hopes her nephew might one day return. 

Uballez said Oldrock's convictions were part of the U.S. Justice Department's duty to bring answers to tribal communities. While no amount of investigation or prosecution will bring back a loved one, he said, law enforcement partners will meet each case "with urgency, transparency and coordination."  KUNM, February 19, 2024