Gov. Kelly Ayotte said Tuesday morning that the Department of Homeland Security is no longer planning to build an immigrant detention center in Merrimack. The federal government planned to retrofit a warehouse on Robert Milligan Parkway in Merrimack into a processing center where immigrants would be detained temporarily before being transferred to a larger detention […]

Gov. Kelly Ayotte has released a set of documents she said she received Thursday evening from the Department of Homeland Security regarding an immigrant detention center the federal government is planning for Merrimack. The U.S. government is building a network of detention centers throughout the country to hold immigrants prior to deportation, according to the […]

This story updated on Feb. 12 at 3:30 p.m. Todd Lyons, acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, confirmed Thursday that ICE was building an immigrant detention center in Merrimack and said that the Department of Homeland Security “has worked with Gov. Ayotte” on the economic impact of the project — a claim Gov. Kelly […]

New Hampshire Natural and Cultural Resources Commissioner Sarah Stewart resigned Monday, the governor’s office announced, about a week after revelations that her department knew about a potential Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility and apparently did not inform the governor. Gov. Kelly Ayotte said in a press release that she asked Stewart to resign. Last week, […]

Democrats in the state House of Representatives failed in an effort to suspend the House rules, a parliamentary maneuver that requires a two-thirds majority vote, to allow a new late bill related to the planned ICE facility in Merrimack during Thursday’s voting session. On Tuesday, state records obtained and released by the ACLU of New […]

Documents made public by the ACLU of New Hampshire Tuesday confirm the federal government’s plans to put a new Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility on Robert Milligan Parkway in Merrimack after weeks of confusion, controversy, and speculation. In December, The Washington Post, citing leaked documents from the Department of Homeland Security, reported that ICE is working […]

Gov. Kelly Ayotte, speaking to reporters Wednesday, said her team asked the White House and the Department of Homeland Security about reports that an immigration detention center is planned for Merrimack. Ayotte said there was no confirmation that the federal government plans to open a facility there, but ultimately she “did not get an answer […]

Amid an increasingly aggressive national deportation campaign by the Trump administration and reports that Merrimack might play a more significant role in that campaign soon, New Hampshire Democrats are trying to prevent state, county, or municipal funding from being used to assist. House Bill 1609, filed by state Rep. David Meuse, would prohibit New Hampshire […]

In late December, The Washington Post reported that Merrimack is one of 23 sites across the United States where the Trump administration plans to build a new ICE detention facility as part of its aggressive deportation campaign, citing a leaked document from the Department of Homeland Security. The local response over the ensuing weeks has […]