Documents released by the New Hampshire ACLU show that the Trump administration informed the state of New Hampshire in early January that it was proposing to place an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Merrimack.
“This letter is provided to initiate consultation on a proposed Department of Homeland Security (DHS) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) undertaking subject to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) in Merrimack, New Hampshire,” DHS wrote to Liz Schneible, Program Specialist in the New Hampshire State Historic Preservation Office in a letter dated Jan. 9.
“ICE is proposing to purchase, occupy, and rehabilitate a 43-acre warehouse property in support of ICE operations…Tentage and a guard shack may also be installed.”
The release of the documents ignited a fiery political dispute, with Democrats accusing Gov. Kelly Ayotte of lying about her knowledge of ICE’s plans, while the governor blamed a breakdown inside state government for keeping her in the dark.
The ACLU has pledged to fight any attempt to put an ICE facility in New Hampshire. “These documents confirm that ICE is not only planning to build a human detention facility in Merrimack, but also that it is actively pursuing legal approvals to do so while declining to tell the public, the press, or the town of its plans,” said Devon Chaffee, executive director of the ACLU of New Hampshire.
While the New Hampshire Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (DNCR) received the letter nearly a month ago, as recently as Jan. 28, Ayotte told reporters she had not been informed about ICE’s plans.
“I had my office reach out both to the White House and to the Department of Homeland Security to ask about the potential of an ICE facility in Merrimack and to get more information,” Ayotte said.
“We have not received confirmation that that facility is coming, but I made quite clear both to the Department of Homeland Security, as well as to the White House, that I thought it was critical that there be full information provided to Merrimack, and that local officials be given the opportunity to be consulted.”
After the ACLU released the documents, Ayotte said she had not been notified about the DHS contacts by DNCR Commissioner Sarah Stewart, and a spokesperson called that decision “entirely unacceptable.”
Democrats ,lincludingHouse Minority Leader Alexis Simpson (D-Exeter) ,accused Ayotte of a ccover-up
“It is unconscionable that ICE is considering New Hampshire as a place for their industrial human warehouse, and even more outrageous that Gov. Kelly Ayotte has been content to shrug and feign ignorance while this unfolds in her administration,” Simpson said in a statement. “This is no longer speculation; it is a confirmed reality, and her administration is in active communication with ICE.”
But late Tuesday afternoon, Stewart released a statement admitting her office hadn’t sent this important information to the governor’s desk.
“The department failed to inform the Governor’s Office of this significant request, and I, as commissioner, take full responsibility for this failure of process within my agency.”
Behind the “he said/she said” accusations lies the fact that the Trump administration has not been forthcoming about its plans to build new ICE facilities.
Merrimack Town Manager Paul Micali said town officials first learned of the plan through reporting by The Washington Post in December, not from federal or state authorities. The Merrimack Town Council formally opposed the project in a Jan. 23 letter to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, citing potential financial and community impacts.
Despite repeated requests from town officials, the governor, and New Hampshire’s congressional delegation, DHS has declined to provide details. In a recent message delivered through U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen’s office, Homeland Security said ICE could not share information due to a “heightened threat environment.”