In June, Rep. Zoe Manos, a Democrat from Stratham, said she heard of a report of an arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Exeter. She said she called around to learn more, but had trouble getting a clear picture.
“We got different stories, different versions of the story, different information,” she said. “I realized at that point that there is no way of getting data on what ICE is doing in New Hampshire, and so that became a particular concern to me.”
As a result, Manos is sponsoring a bill this year that would require any local jail or law enforcement agency that has detained someone on an immigration detainer to submit two reports to the New Hampshire Attorney General every year.
The bill is one of several similar bills this year — introduced largely by New Hampshire Democrats — that would add reporting requirements or restrictions at a local level to the federal immigration infrastructure put in place by the Trump administration over the past year.
“Whether it's a level of county officers cooperating with ICE or different detention centers going up everywhere across New Hampshire, this is impacting people,” said Rep. Alissandra Murray, a Democrat from Manchester, who was involved in drafting several of these bills. “We want to give people an easy way to understand what's happening in their communities and to have comfort that everything is happening transparently and in accordance with law.”
Added scrutiny on immigration detention
Immigration detention in New Hampshire has become a more urgent topic of conversation recently: Merrimack residents this week turned out to protest a reported proposal by ICE to turn an industrial warehouse in that town into a federal detention center. The federal prison in Berlin is housing immigration detainees. And the Rockingham County commissioners have applied to the federal government to use their new jail for immigration detainees.
But Rep. David Meuse, a Democrat from Portsmouth, thinks local jails shouldn’t be used to hold immigration detainees. In a tough budget year for New Hampshire, he pointed out that the state Department of Corrections is already facing staff shortages and that federal enforcement efforts have seen billions of dollars in new spending.
Meuse sponsored a bill that would keep local county jails from holding immigration detainees or let local governments spend money on detention facilities.
“We have an extremely well-funded federal effort,” he said. “Myself, and I think a lot of other people, have a very difficult time understanding why we need to throw New Hampshire dollars on top of that.”
Proposals add requirements 287(g) programs in NH
Several bills also focus on 287(g) agreements, a partnership that allows local law enforcement agencies to help ICE with immigration enforcement. So far, a dozen agencies in New Hampshire have signed such an agreement, including the State Police and three county sheriffs.
According to the terms of these agreements, ICE pays for the cost of a virtual training for officers, but local agencies pay other expenses associated with carrying out the agreement. Currently, this is considered an internal agency matter and just requires the signature of the head of the law enforcement agency.
But Rep. Buzz Scherr, a Democrat from Portsmouth, wants to add another step before any New Hampshire law enforcement agency can sign a 287(g) agreement. He introduced a new bill that would require police to get permission from the committee that runs their budget, like a police commission or board of selectmen, ahead of signing any agreement with ICE.
“Whether one is in favor of what ICE is doing or not, the citizens of a town or a city shouldn't be paying to do ICE's work,” Scherr said. “If ICE wants the police to do the work, then ICE should pay.”
Other bills this year might add requirements to agencies that already have 287(g) agreements. One new bill would require officers with those agencies to be unmasked and clearly identified with their name, badge number, and agency name whenever they carry out immigration functions. Another bipartisan bill would require the agencies to file a quarterly report.
“I believe data collection on government actions is valuable,” said Rep. Tom Mannion, a Republican from Pelham who is co-sponsoring this bill. “We can't measure success or improve processes without data.”
