A year into Donald Trump’s second term, friends who live outside the United States still reach out in disbelief. Is it really that bad? Are you safe? I usually answer with a shrug. Not because things are fine — but because, like so many Americans, I’ve learned how quickly the unacceptable becomes routine.
Building a detention facility in Merrimack would make our town complicit in cruelty and human rights abuses. These facilities operate by warehousing human beings, often for months or years, under harsh conditions that dehumanize and traumatize adults and children alike. Detention has been shown to cause lasting psychological harm, particularly to asylum seekers and survivors of violence. No community that values dignity, fairness, and the rule of law should accept this.
A Jamaican man who was working as a summer reserve police officer in Maine was arrested by ICE on July 25 – prompting accusations by ICE against Old Orchard Beach police of knowingly breaking the law by hiring him.
Old Orchard Beach Police Chief Elise Chard is pushing back.
A lawsuit filed in federal court in New Hampshire Friday seeks to stop immigration officials from revoking the legal status of international students, including three in New Hampshire.
The Trump administration has repeatedly stressed that its focus is to deport violent criminals who entered the United States illegally. According to the President, he wants to deport “the worst first.” Few people would argue with that goal. However, recent actions of the Trump administration make clear that even migrants who entered the county legally may be subject to detention and deportation. The abrupt termination of the CBP-One program by executive order is one glaring example.
“It is critical for state and local law enforcement to cooperate with federal authorities and protect our citizens. Criminals who are in our country illegally and pose a danger should be apprehended and removed. I support and encourage New Hampshire law enforcement agencies to cooperate with ICE to enforce our laws and keep our communities safe.”
The Federal Bureau of Prisons’ leaked plan to convert a prison in Berlin to house immigrants detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sparked outrage and concern from the New Hampshire Immigrants’ Rights Network on how the prison could be used to fuel President Trump’s mass deportation agenda.
The House nearly unanimously passed a bill to ban “sanctuary city” policies in the state Thursday, after Democrats sided with Republicans to advance a version they argue is less drastic.