A progressive Portsmouth Democrat known for his opposition to immigration enforcement is falsely claiming immigrant rights groups supported his vote in favor of a sanctuary city ban.
Rep. David Meuse (D-Portsmouth) is well known for his combative social media posts and unapologetically leftwing politics. Many State House watchers were stunned when he joined the rest of the Democrats on the House Criminal Justice Committee last month to unanimously recommend a bill banning sanctuary cities in New Hampshire “ought to pass.”
In the past, Meuse denounced the legislation for “demonizing immigrants,” arguing that there is no illegal immigration issue in New Hampshire and accusing supporters of the sanctuary city ban of racism and xenophobia.
After his dramatic flip-flop, Meuse posted a message on his Facebook page defending his decision as a “harm reduction measure,” adding: “As amended, the bill has the support of ACLU-NH and the Immigrant Rights Network here in New Hampshire.”
That was not true.
Almost immediately, Meuse was forced to retract his statement when the ACLU-NH released a statement denouncing the legislation. However, Meuse continued to insist the NH Immigrant Rights Network (NHIRN) backed the sanctuary city ban.
That claim was rebutted Wednesday morning when the NHIRN released a letter to the New Hampshire House explicitly denouncing the bill Meuse backed.
“We are submitting this letter on behalf of the NH Immigrant Rights Network (NHIRN), a coalition of New Hampshire organizations and individuals working with and within immigrant communities to improve lives and ensure just treatment. We are adamantly opposed to SB 511-FN, as amended, and we urge the members to vote it “inexpedient to legislate,” they wrote.
“The proposed legislation is rooted in fear-mongering and anti-immigrant sentiment and would undermine principles of justice and equity in New Hampshire.”
Asked by NHJournal to explain the discrepancies, Meuse declined to respond. The NHIRN also declined to comment on Meuse’s statement.
The immigration issue continues to present challenges for New Hampshire Democrats, as polls show voters overwhelmingly support increased enforcement and reject the policies once embraced by Meuse and his fellow progressives.
“I feel sorry for the House Democrats,” said Rep. Joe Sweeney (R-Salem), sponsor of the House bill.
“They obviously have so much whiplash from all the great work Republicans are doing in Concord and D.C. that they’re just making things up when it comes to who supports them still. As more far-left groups break with the House Democrat Caucus over immigration, I implore my House Democrat colleagues to abandon the ACLU and other illegal alien advocates and vote to ban sanctuary cities through my bill on the House floor.”
Sweeney may get his wish.
On a liberal radio talk show Wednesday morning, state Senate Minority Leader Sen. Rebecca Perkins Kwoka (D-Portsmouth) repeated the debunked claim that “we have no sanctuary cities in New Hampshire.”
She acknowledged that she and her fellow Senate Democrats unanimously opposed a sanctuary city ban bill just days after it passed unanimously in the House Criminal Justice Committee. Perkins Kwoka argued the Senate bill was more problematic than the House legislation.
“The version in front of the Senate was broad and sweeping and didn’t reflect the reality of what is happening on the ground,” she said. “We had a bill allowing local police to enter MOUs (Memorandum Of Understanding) with ICE to do their enforcement work. Right now, there’s nothing stopping local police from doing that.”
(In fact, at least two cities, Lebanon and Hanover, have passed ordinances instructing their police departments not to cooperate with ICE.)
And while the ACLU-NH and the Immigrants Rights Network both oppose the House bill, Perkins Kwoka suggested Senate Democrats are ready to follow Rep. Meuse’s example.
“We’re looking at what the House passed, I think we’re open to it,” Perkins Kwoka said.
