ACLU of New Hampshire v. New Hampshire Division of State Police

On August 25, 2026, the ACLU of New Hampshire filed a lawsuit against the New Hampshire State Police for not complying with New Hampshire's Right-to-Know Law when the State Police failed to timely respond to the ACLU of New Hampshire's request for records concerning the State Police's Section 287(g) agreement, which allows certified state troopers to act as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) agents.

Since late April 2025, the State Police has been a party to an agreement with ICE under the Section 287(g) program. The State Police is one of 28 New Hampshire police agencies participating in this program. Through this program, the State Police has agreed to enforce federal immigration law when troopers trained under the program initiate motor vehicle stops. However, even while some other local New Hampshire police departments participating in this Section 287(g) program have timely produced records under the Right-to-Know Law concerning the nature of their enforcement of federal immigration law, the State Police has failed to do so. As a result, the full nature and scale of the State Police’s implementation of this program and how it enforces federal immigration law—including how many people the State Police has detained under the program and what factors a trooper may consider in assessing whether there is reasonable suspicion or probable cause to believe that there has been a violation of federal immigration laws—remains a mystery to the public. Nor does the public know whether the State Police has received any financial compensation or stipends from ICE under the Section 287(g) program.

As this lawsuit argues, if the State Police can devote time to enforcing federal immigration law, then it can devote time to timely informing the public about the nature of this enforcement.