Federal authorities planned to purchase, rehabilitate and occupy a 43-acre warehouse in Merrimack to support regional Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations, records obtained by the ACLU of New Hampshire confirmed.
Through a public records request, the state civil rights organization received emails on Monday between ICE officials and the New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources, discussing potential disturbances to historical resources near the proposed site at 50 Robert Milligan Parkway.
The warehouse is owned by the Trammell Crow Company, a commercial real estate developer. ICE’s communication with the state agency — which found no historical properties would be affected — suggests that the plans were much further along than publicly known.
“These documents confirm that ICE is not only planning to build a human detention facility in Merrimack, but also that it is actively pursuing legal approvals to do so while declining to tell the public, the press, or the town of its plans,” said Devon Chaffee, Executive Director of the ACLU of New Hampshire, in a statement.
The Washington Post reported that the Trump administration is seeking to renovate large warehouses to hold tens of thousands of immigrants, according to a draft solicitation. The draft outlined plans to create seven large detention centers, holding between 5,000 and 10,000 detainees, and 16 smaller processing sites to house up to 1,500.
Hundreds of people gathered at the Merrimack town hall earlier this month to protest the rumored plans, the day after Renee Good was killed by ICE agents in Minneapolis.
Town officials and Gov. Kelly Ayotte were unaware of any plans being made to host an ICE facility at the time of the Post report.
“It is entirely unacceptable that the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources failed to share this information with the Governor’s office,” Ayotte said in a statement Tuesday. “Clearly, the Department of Homeland Security is actively pursuing the use of this property without communicating with all stakeholders. We will continue to insist on transparency and communication from the Department of Homeland Security with officials in Merrimack concerning this proposed facility.”
Currently in New Hampshire, detainees are held in a federal prison in Berlin and the Strafford County jail in Dover. Rockingham County commissioners are considering a contract from ICE to hold up to 150 detainees in their county jail. Over 100 people, some with signs, showed up to the commissioners’ meeting on Jan. 29 to push back on the deal.
“In just the first three weeks of 2026, six people have died in ICE custody across the country,” Chaffee said in a statement. “We demand more answers, more transparency, and more opposition from our elected leaders to ensure that this disturbing and deeply harmful proposal does not become reality in the Granite State.”