This story was originally produced by The Keene Sentinel. NHPR is republishing it in partnership with the Granite State News Collaborative.
At Troy’s annual town meeting on March 11, residents will have the chance to decide for the first time whether they, as a community, approve of the police department’s partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
An article on the warrant by petition asks the town to indicate if it approves of the partnership, which started in March when Police Chief Dave Ellis signed a 287(g) agreement with ICE.
The agreements are named for a section of immigration law that gives local and state police agencies the authority to perform immigration enforcement. It’s a law that President Donald Trump and N.H. Gov. Kelly Ayotte have both encouraged police departments to take advantage of, but Troy remains the only local department in the Monadnock Region to join.
According to Troy selectboard member Dick Thackston, the article is advisory only, because it’s outside of the town’s scope of authority. Under state law, town officials can’t prohibit their police department from making a 287(g) agreement.
“That being said, it does give everyone a sense of how people feel which is helpful,” he said in an email.
After The Sentinel reported Troy police had made 12 immigration arrests last fall, mostly of people driving through the town, the selectboard fielded concerns from residents about the partnership.
Town residents who spoke at a December selectboard meeting questioned whether immigration enforcement is a good use of police resources. They also raised concerns about legal liability and the town’s reputation.
Thackston said at the time that spending associated with the partnership had been minimal and the police department was under budget for the year.
Chief Ellis did not ask the selectboard’s permission for entering into the agreement with ICE.
Ellis did not respond to a request for comment on the warrant article.
Jack Gettens, a Troy resident who ran as a Democrat for a seat in the N.H. House in 2022 and 2024, was one of the leaders behind getting the petitioned article onto the warrant.
He said in an email the article came out of the selectboard meeting where residents discussed concerns about the ICE agreement.
“I raised concerns about the need for information about the agreement and for public input, potential Town costs and liabilities, and restrictive ICE arrest and detention practices. It was a good discussion between residents and the Board,” Gettens wrote.
At that meeting, a warrant article was discussed as a possible means for public comment on the partnership, Gettens said, and he and several others worked to gather the signatures needed to get it on the warrant.
Troy’s Town Meeting is Wednesday, March 11, at 7 p.m. at the Samuel E. Paul Community Center.
