News that progressive activists from across New Hampshire are organizing to defy the state’s ban on sanctuary cities drew a swift response from Granite State Republicans.
“If you are in this nation illegally, you are not welcome in any New Hampshire community.”
That message from Deputy House Majority Leader Rep. Joe Sweeney (R-Salem) summarizes the GOP’s stance on defending the current law banning sanctuary policies.
During a press conference at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Concord, leaders of the organization Sanctuary Communities announced that they are declaring eight regions of the state “sanctuaries,” ranging from the North Country to Nashua. They argued that while state law prohibits municipalities from adopting sanctuary policies, private citizens still have constitutional rights to protest and support immigrants facing deportation.
“We’re here as people of faith, conscience, and compassion,” said Maggie Fogarty of the Seacoast Interfaith Sanctuary Coalition. “We’re organizing to protect community members who are facing persecution.”
Persecution was a big part of the message.
“Our Granite State motto is ‘Live Free or Die,’ but we no longer feel so free when we see secret agents—often masked and with no ID—whisking people off our streets,” complained Philip Kaifer, representing the Manchester and Merrimack Region Sanctuary Community.
Bob Baker, a retired Air Force intelligence officer and attorney, compared federal enforcement actions to “something out of Nazi Germany.”
Gov. Kelly Ayotte, who ran on a platform of opposing the open borders policies practiced by the state of Massachusetts, released a statement Tuesday rejecting the progressives’ approach.
“Threats to law enforcement or efforts to obstruct them will not be tolerated in New Hampshire,” Ayotte said. “We are not a sanctuary for criminals who have come into this country illegally, and the law I signed earlier this year reinforces that. If you disrupt law enforcement activity, you will be prosecuted.”
The law, Senate Bill 62, was sponsored by Sen. Bill Gannon (R-Sandown), who also condemned the activists’ announcement.
“Across New Hampshire, local police departments are working closely with federal officials to enforce the law and keep Granite Staters safe,” Gannon said. “We’ve seen the consequences of Democrats’ continual support for open-border policies, and we will never have sanctuary cities in New Hampshire.”
While no elected Democrats participated in the press conference, virtually every elected Democrat in the state House and Senate voted against the sanctuary city ban passed earlier this year and signed into law by Ayotte. Several of them have also compared the enforcement of immigration law to the actions of the Nazi regime in the 1930s.
Meanwhile, polls continue to show that most Americans think Democrats are wrong on the immigration issue. A New York Times/Siena poll released earlier this month found Americans overwhelmingly support deporting illegal aliens, regardless of whether they have committed an additional crime after crossing into the U.S.
“More than 90 percent of Republicans, 52 percent of independents, and nearly 20 percent of Democrats continue to broadly support the idea of deporting those here illegally,” the Times reports.
