Ken Miyagishima, former mayor of Las Cruces, discussed in an interview with the New Mexico Suncast his plans to implement a program aimed at training inmates nearing release in construction trades. This initiative is intended to enable them to contribute to affordable housing projects.
"I want to take these prisoners who have about two years left in their sentence. As long as they've been good behavior, pull them out. We're going to teach them a trade. We're going to teach them plumbing, electrical, HVAC, welding, firefighting," said Ken Miyagashima. "The two most expensive parts of building a house, or a duplex or a triplex or a fourplex is material and labor. And if they stay in that job for the number of years that they were sentenced, I'll expunge their record. Okay. So they're clean."
According to KOB 4, Miyagishima’s proposal emerges amid New Mexico's worsening housing affordability crisis and rising crime rates. The state faces persistent housing shortages, with rental vacancy rates dropping below 5% in major cities. Simultaneously, a large incarcerated population confronts limited rehabilitation pathways, prompting policymakers to consider work-based reintegration models. Miyagishima’s initiative seeks to combine affordable housing production with skills training for inmates to reduce recidivism and labor costs.
New Mexico’s inmate recidivism rate has recently climbed to 40%, a significant increase from previous years. State data attributes this sharp rise to insufficient re-entry support and lack of job placement programs. Nationally, recidivism rates hover around 27%, highlighting New Mexico's disproportionate challenge. Miyagishima’s plan aims to address both labor and rehabilitation needs by tying job training with housing construction.
According to Gaar, housing prices in New Mexico have surged dramatically, nearly doubling over the last decade. In 2013, the median home price was $174,900; by 2023, it had risen to $345,000—a 97% increase. This rapid escalation has placed homeownership out of reach for many residents and contributed to homelessness and housing insecurity. Miyagashima’s plan could help produce lower-cost homes by up to 25% through reduced labor costs using trained inmate labor.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) encourages integrated approaches that pair housing development with job training, especially for underserved populations. In its "Bridging the Fields to Future" report, HUD identified public-private partnerships as critical in addressing both employment gaps and construction shortfalls. Miyagishima’s proposal aligns closely with these recommendations, targeting dual outcomes in housing affordability and inmate rehabilitation.
Miyagashima was born Kenneth Daniel Gallegos Miyagashima in 1963 in Biloxi, Mississippi. He served as Mayor of Las Cruces since 2007 after being a city councilor from 2001 to 2007 and a Doña Ana County Commissioner from 1995 to 2000.
