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Tucson –  Defenders of civil rights in New Mexico fear an increase in cases of racial profiling against Hispanics, now that new Republican Gov. Susana Martinez has signed an executive order obliging state police to question the immigration status of all detainees.

"We're keeping watch on what effect this executive order will have, because while it's only meant for state police, we're concerned that it will encourage municipal police and sheriffs to do likewise," Vicki Gaubeca, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Regional Center for Border Rights, told Efe by telephone from Las Cruces, New Mexico.

The order signed by Martinez on Monday puts and end to a resolution issued in 2005 by then-Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat, barring state police from questioning people about their immigration status.

"This order takes the handcuffs off of New Mexico's law enforcement officers in their mission to keep our communities safe," Martinez said. "The criminal justice system should have the authority to determine the immigration status of all criminals, regardless of race or ethnicity, and report illegal immigrants who commit crimes to federal authorities."

She said that state police will not question the immigration status of crime victims or witnesses, nor of those who seek help from the police.

"We know that police are not trained to be immigration agents, we know that they will make use of racial profiling - the person's physical appearance and accent - in order to interrogate," the ACLU's Gaubeca says.

That concern is shared by state legislator Antonio "Moe" Maestas (D-Albuquerque), who believes that from now on every Hispanic will be a "suspect."

State Sen. Richard C. Martinez (D-Rio Arriba County) presented this week a bill, SB152, to ban New Mexico law enforcement agencies from detaining a person based solely on immigration-law violations.

While Sen. Eric Griego (D-Albuquerque) presented a measure to bar state police from questioning the immigration status of a detainee.

According to the Census Bureau, 45 percent of the New Mexico population is of Hispanic origin, and in that segment 83 percent were born in the United States. The state has an estimated 85,000 undocumented immigrants.

During last year's election campaign, Gov. Martinez also called for repeal of a 2003 state law allowing people to obtain driver's licenses without offering proof of immigration status.