ACLU-NH Statement on Granite State Opposition to 287(g) Agreements During Town Elections

OSSIPEE, N.H. - During town elections this week, Gorham, Hampton, and Ossipee each voted to oppose their local law enforcement’s participation in federal immigration enforcement through 287(g) agreements. The ACLU of New Hampshire was active in Gorham and Ossipee to support the proposals, including through community organizing, literature, and hosting informational sessions with community members. Two additional, similar proposals were up in town elections this week: one in the town of Carroll, which resulted in a tie, and one in the town of Troy, which was tabled.

In short, of the five towns that voted on this issue–Gorham, Hampton, Ossipee, Caroll, and Troy–no town affirmatively voted in support of having their local police partner with ICE, and three outright rejected this type of ICE collaboration.

Devon Chaffee, Executive Director of the ACLU of New Hampshire, said, “The towns of Gorham, Hampton, and Ossipee made clear this week that they do not want local police officers engaging in federal immigration enforcement. We are proud to have played a small part alongside local community members in advocating for these warrant articles. There have already been concerning arrests made right here in New Hampshire under these 287(g) agreements–arrests that ruin or change the lives of the people involved. We join these towns in rejecting ICE’s deadly, harmful, and fear-inducing immigration enforcement tactics from being used in our communities.”

The police departments in Gorham, Ossipee, Carroll, and Troy have active 287(g) agreements with ICE, while the police department in Hampton has previously publicly rejected joining such agreements. The proposals that passed this week, called “warrant articles,” are non-binding and do not require the town police department to act–but the results of the vote still make clear that the voters in each of these towns oppose such agreements.

Recent polling from the UNH Survey Center indicated that 52% of Granite Staters think ICE’s actions under the Trump Administration have made the country less safe. Additionally, according to the survey, 49% of Granite Staters support abolishing ICE, with 45% opposed to abolishing ICE.

287(g) agreements between ICE and state and local agencies effectively turn local officials into ICE agents, authorizing selected officers to identify, arrest, and process certain people for immigration enforcement and ultimately deportation. There are currently 14 New Hampshire police departments with 287(g) agreements, and the Troy Police Department, the Colebrook Police Department, the Carroll Police Department, and the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office have already engaged in immigration arrests under this program.

The ACLU of New Hampshire is also seeking, through a FOIA lawsuit, documents that have been used, or will be used, to train the approximately 138 law enforcement officers in 14 New Hampshire law enforcement agencies participating in 287(g) agreements.