At least three New Hampshire law enforcement agencies want to help enforce immigration law, and the return of a “task force model” overseen by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will let them do just that.
Gov. Kelly Ayotte confirmed Thursday the New Hampshire State Police have applied to perform specified immigration officer functions under the Department of Homeland Security’s direction and oversight.
“It is critical for state and local law enforcement to cooperate with federal authorities and protect our citizens,” Ayotte said in a statement. “Criminals who are in our country illegally and pose a danger should be apprehended and removed.
“I support and encourage New Hampshire law enforcement agencies to cooperate with ICE to enforce our laws and keep our communities safe.”
At least two other local agencies, the Gorham Police Department and the Belknap County Sheriff’s Office, have also applied.
On Jan. 20, President Donald Trump issued an executive order instructing ICE to authorize state and local law enforcement to participate in immigration enforcement as appropriate. That policy is a reversal of the agency’s practices under former President Joe Biden.
Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies for the Center for Immigration Studies, praised New Hampshire law enforcement for stepping up, calling it a “very wise move.”
“The partnerships help ICE because state and local officers will be trained to identify illegal aliens as part of their regular work, and after they are trained the New Hampshire officers will not have to wait for ICE or the Border Patrol to take action,” Vaughan told NHJournal. “They will work together, sharing information and helping each other. Criminal aliens will be discouraged from coming to New Hampshire.”
Vaughan said the partnerships help state police “investigate cross-border smuggling, for example, or identity theft at the Department of Motor Vehicles, or work with ICE to target human trafficking, drug trafficking, and gangs.”
The revival of the program, Vaughan said, isn’t simply politics.
“It is not just window dressing,” she said. “It’s a meaningful commitment to working with ICE and the Border Patrol on the shared goal of national border security, fighting transnational criminal organizations, and safe New Hampshire communities.
“We will know just how meaningful because the anti-enforcement advocacy groups will fight this with all their resources. They will shriek about injustice and discrimination against illegal aliens, but citizens and legal immigrants in New Hampshire will not be disappointed in the results.”
Soon after Vaughan spoke to NHJournal, the New Hampshire ACLU released a statement announcing its opposition. Policy Director Amanda Azad said the progressive organization will submit right-to-know requests regarding the law enforcement agencies’ applications to a “flawed and harmful program that undermines police and community trust.”
And Maggie Fogerty, with the left wing American Friends Service Committee in New Hampshire, told The Boston Globe she found the idea of local police helping enforce immigration laws “deeply troubling.”
“This direction toward 287(g) agreements, and to further the involvement of state and local police in enforcement of federal immigration law, is deeply troubling.”
The New Hampshire State Police’s willingness to work with ICE is also a marked contrast with policies south of the state line. Within days of Trump’s November election victory, Democratic Gov. Maura Healey vowed Massachusetts State Police would be barred from assisting with immigration enforcement measures.
“Every tool in the toolbox has got to be used to protect our citizens, to protect our residents, and protect our states, and certainly to hold the line on democracy and the rule of law,” Healey said at the time.
New Hampshire Department of Safety Commissioner Robert L. Quinn had a different reaction.
“We are pleased to see that the federal government is interested in reinstating the task force model, which would grant both legal authority and protection to our State Troopers when they encounter individuals in the United States illegally,” Quinn said in a statement.
Belknap County Sheriff Bill Wright was also enthusiastic about the program’s revival.
“We will do our part to protect our communities and continue to help enforce our laws,” Wright said in a statement. “Coordinating with our federal partners helps keep both our officers and our state safe, and I thank Gov. Ayotte for her support and leadership.”
It remains unclear how New Hampshire cities and towns that have adopted so-called “sanctuary” policies barring local law enforcement from cooperating with federal agents on illegal immigration matters will navigate to the new relationship being formed between the State Police and DHS.
Both Lebanon and Hanover have declared themselves “sanctuary cities,” and according to public statements, they have instructed their law enforcement agencies not to cooperate with immigration law enforcement.
NHJournal left messages with the mayor and town administrator of both cities asking if their law enforcement would be allowed to participate in this new ICE program if they chose to. They have yet to respond.
Illegal crossings at the northern border, particularly in the Swanton Sector that includes New Hampshire, soared during the Biden administration.
After Trump, who made a campaign vow to carry out mass deportations, revived the program, local law enforcement agencies in Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Nevada, Oklahoma and Texas quickly signed on, records show.
Other states like Virginia have seen GOP governors sign executive orders directing state police and corrections officials to work with federal immigration enforcement agencies.
