A day after President Donald Trump signed the Laken Riley Act — supported by all four Democrats in the state’s federal delegation — the New Hampshire Senate passed a series of immigration enforcement bills over the unified opposition of Senate Democrats.

The bill that received the most attention and inspired the most debate is a proposed ban on sanctuary city policies, similar to a bill passed unanimously by the New Hampshire House Criminal Justice Committee last week.

Despite the results of November’s elections and polls showing most Americans support increased immigration enforcement, Senate Democrats stuck with their stance last year and opposed all three proposals:

SB 13: Invalidates out-of-state driver’s licenses issued to undocumented immigrants.

SB 62: Allows state, county, or local law enforcement agencies to partner with the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

SB 71 Prevents local governments from adopting sanctuary city policies that would obstruct cooperation with federal immigration officials.

All three bills passed on a party-line vote of 15-8.

“Sanctuary city policies create devastating consequences to states and communities alike, but our state is cracking down on illegal immigrants in New Hampshire,” said Sen. Bill Gannon (R-Sandown), who sponsored the sanctuary city ban. “We are sending a clear message that our citizens will be protected against illegal drugs and crime threatening other states. In New Hampshire, there is no room for sanctuary city policies.”

Sen. Sue Prentiss (D-West Lebanon) acknowledged that Lebanon has passed a “welcoming” resolution, which explicitly instructs local law enforcement not to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement efforts. However, she said, the city’s police are cooperating, making the legislation superfluous.

“I thought that Groundhog Day was in February, but it looks like it’s today. Sen. Gannon continues to point to the city of Lebanon as being a haven of noncitizens who are legally in this country, and that they are raining down crime on our city,” Prentiss complained.

“Since this policy has adopted a ‘Welcoming Lebanon’ ordinance, we’ve had three cases where law enforcement has arrested an individual who did not have citizenship. They had all committed crimes, and they were prosecuted and pushed through the process. We did not open the doors and set them free.”

Sen. Daryl Abbas (R- R-Salem) took issue with Prentiss’ use of the phrase “noncitizen.”

“I heard the term again, ‘noncitizens.’ If you’re here legally and you’re a noncitizen, you’re welcome in every single community in the state,” Abbas said. “Legal immigrants, people who come to this country legally, who have legal status, are welcomed in this state. That’s what we support here in New Hampshire. We do not support illegal immigration.”

Several Republicans echoed the ‘Don’t MASS Up New Hampshire” messaging of Gov. Kelly Ayotte, who has said she will sign a sanctuary city ban. During her campaign for governor last year, she highlighted the costs and crime associated with the surge in illegal aliens into the Bay State.

Since Trump took office 10 days ago, there have been a series of high-profile arrests of illegals who’ve also been charged or convicted of violent crimes.

A day before the Senate vote, Fox News reporter Bill Melugin reported that an MS-13 gang member arrested by ICE Boston last week “had already been ordered deported from the U.S. in October and was facing local gun charges, but he was released into the community by the East Boston District Court after the court ignored ICE’s detainer request. He was also caught and released at the border by the Biden administration in March 2021.”

Abbas said New Hampshire should learn from Massachusetts’ example.

“They love to brag about their sanctuary policies. Well, they spent over a billion dollars trying to manage their sanctuary policies. They had such a large influx of illegal immigrants come to their state that they had to have executive orders where they were forcing hotels to provide housing for illegal immigrants,” Abbas said.

“They were, at one point, encouraging people to house (migrants) in their house, just as a public service. That’s how bad it got. Well, if a welcoming community — or sanctuary city, I call that a rebrand — if they’re going to enact those policies, what’s going to happen if they have a large influx of illegal immigrants?”

Democrats also unsuccessfully tried to kill legislation mandating minimum sentences for fentanyl-related offenses and for drug dealers when their illegal drugs kill people.

There were more than 500 opioid overdoses in Manchester last year, down from the record 877 in 2017, but still higher than the pre-opioid era. The city’s new GOP senator, Victoria Sullivan, praised the Senate’s actions.

“Today, the New Hampshire Senate took necessary steps to thwart drug trafficking of fentanyl to our citizens, as well as cracking down on illegal immigration. Seemingly endless illegal immigration has crushed our southern neighbor, Massachusetts, and we do not want to follow in their footsteps,” Sullivan said.

“I always vote for the safety of Granite Staters and will put New Hampshire first.”