New Hampshire Governor Kelly A. Ayotte said last week she is pleased to see the New Hampshire State Police and some local law enforcement agencies have signed on to help federal authorities with immigration enforcement.
Ayotte, a Republican who campaigned on promises to bolster police agencies, stiffen criminal penalties, and see that immigration laws are enforced, reiterated her desire to keep her state from becoming too much like its southerly neighbor.
“New Hampshire will not go the way of Massachusetts, where sanctuary policies have enabled violent crime and a billion-dollar illegal immigrant crisis,’’ she said in a statement.
By signing a memorandum of agreement with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the New Hampshire State Police will receive training and authority to carry out certain immigration-related enforcement actions within the state — which means troopers could question, detain, and arrest people based solely on their immigration status.
This agreement is among more than 200 that ICE has signed with state and local law enforcement agencies in about half of all US states, as the Trump administration ramps up efforts to carry out mass deportations.
Such “task force model’’ agreements under Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act were discontinued by the Obama administration amid accusations of racial bias, but ICE brought them back after President Trump returned to the White House.
Immigrant advocates have said these agreements are concerning because they could elevate fears in immigrant communities and undermine local law enforcement priorities.
Maggie Fogarty, the New Hampshire program director for the American Friends Service Committee, previously told the Globe that the trend toward greater involvement of state and local police in immigration enforcement efforts is ’’deeply troubling” and could undermine trust.
“It rolls back years of thoughtful work with community leaders and within the department of safety itself,’’ she said.
New Hampshire is a regional outlier. It’s the only New England state in which any state police force has applied for the ICE task force model. The state also has three sheriff’s offices — in Belknap, Grafton, and Rockingham counties — and six municipal police departments that have signed ICE task force model agreements as well.
Colonel Mark B. Hall said the State Police are committed to keeping New Hampshire communities safe.
“Under this agreement, Troopers will be authorized and trained by ICE on how to better respond to immigration violations that they encounter,’’ he said. “However, residents and visitors should be assured that our mission remains the same as it always has been.’’
Steven Porter can be reached at steven.porter@globe.com. Follow him @reporterporter.
