(The Center Square) — New Hampshire has become the latest state to sign an agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to help detain and deport people living in the country illegally.
The New Hampshire State police have signed a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Homeland Security to join the 287(g) program, allowing state troopers to arrest and detain immigration suspects after they are trained and certified by federal immigration officials.
“New Hampshire will not go the way of Massachusetts, where sanctuary policies have enabled violent crime and a billion-dollar illegal immigrant crisis,” Gov. Kelly Ayotte, a first-term Republican, said in a statement. “Criminals who are in our country illegally and pose a danger to our communities should be apprehended and removed.”
Many of New Hampshire’s county sheriffs and some local departments have already signed 287 (g) agreements with ICE to cooperate with immigration crackdowns, and hold onto suspects in county jails who are being sought by federal authorities for deportation.
“The members of the New Hampshire State Police are committed to keeping our communities among the safest in the nation,” New Hampshire State Police Col. Mark B. Hall said in a statement. “Under this agreement, troopers will be authorized and trained by ICE on how to better respond to immigration violations that they encounter.”
New Hampshire has several so-called “sanctuary” cities, including Manchester, where local ordinances restrict cooperation with federal officials seeking undocumented immigrants on so-called ICE detainers, which can be either criminal or civil.
Ayotte and Republican lawmakers are advancing plans to prohibit local governments from adopting such policies and require local police to turn over undocumented immigrants wanted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers for deportation.
Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act allows the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to enter into agreements with state and local law enforcement agencies to delegate to them certain federal immigration enforcement authorities. ICE trains officers in immigration law and how to identify and process non-citizens and issue immigration detainers.
The program authorizes three levels of participation, including a Task Force Model that allows local law enforcement agencies the ability to “enforce limited immigration authority with ICE oversight during their routine police duties,” according to ICE. The other two models allow local law enforcement to enforce immigration laws inside jails.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order last month directing the DHS to revive the program, which largely languished under the Biden administration. ICE’s website lists 20 agencies that have signed up to participate in the program, with another 56 pending approval.
Nationwide, more than 230 local police agencies in at least 24 states have signed memorandums with ICE to cooperate since Trump’s inauguration, according to the agency.
