New Hampshire officially bans sanctuary cities following two bills signed into law by Governor Kelly Ayotte
Once it goes into effect in January, HB 511 will require each of New Hampshire's municipalities to comply with ICE immigration detainers "if safe to do so."
Governor Kelly Ayotte, in a file image.
New Hampshire became the first New England state to officially pban so-called sanctuary cities, after Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed two bills Thursday to materialize this forceful step. "I said from the beginning that we won’t let our state go the way of Massachusetts and their billion-dollar illegal immigrant crisis. Today, we’re delivering on our promise by banning sanctuary cities and supporting law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration authorities. New Hampshire will never be a sanctuary for criminals, and we will keep working every day to remain the safest state in the nation," Ayotte said in a statement.
The bills - House Bill 511 (HB 511) and Senate Bill 62 (SB 62) - seek to prevent the existence of so-called sanctuary cities, which are localities that have laws that hinder local law enforcement cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or with U.S. federal immigration laws. Once it goes into effect in January, HB 511 will require each of New Hampshire's municipalities to comply with ICE immigration detainers "if safe to do so." It would also prohibit any policy that ignores federal immigration-related guidelines and would also officially prevent local police from investigating the immigration status of someone in custody unless that person is being formally investigated for violating state laws. For its part, SB 62, which will also take effect in January 2026, will take away both state and local governments' authority to prohibit law enforcement agencies under them from entering into voluntary cooperation agreementswith ICE.
During the signing ceremony, Ayotte criticized the governor of neighboring Massachusetts, Maura Healey, for having an immigration crisis as a product of the lack of policies and the decision of many of that state's authorities to look the other way. "This is something we ran on to make sure that New Hampshire would not go the way of Massachusetts and their billion-dollar illegal immigration crisis," Ayotte said.
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