There are approximately 13 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. Immigrants typically come to America to flee violence, poverty, political oppression and climate disasters in their home countries. Many arrive in search of jobs, higher wages, safety and family reunification.
For an immigrant, the process of becoming a U.S. citizen can take a minimum of five years for some and up to 25 years for most. The pathway to citizenship for the vast majority is long, complex and financially draining. It is a broken system that is in desperate need of reform.
Instead of our tax dollars being allocated for necessary reforms, Congress and federal agencies have committed over $260 billion in federal funds for immigration enforcement, detention and deportation. Reform would take a fraction of those funds.
President Donald Trump claims that our country isn’t safe with undocumented immigrants living here. Research shows that immigrants, including both legal and undocumented, have a lower overall incarceration rate than U.S.-born individuals and are significantly less likely to be criminals than native-born citizens. According to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, as of July 11, there are 65,765 immigrants in detention, 70.6% have no criminal records.
ICE is the face of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement. By now we are all too familiar with ICE’s aggressive, cruel and lethal tactics. We’ve witnessed the unjustified killings of two U.S. citizens in Minnesota and two immigrants in Texas and Maine, both of whom were mistaken targets of ICE. According to the National Immigration Project, 33 detainees died in ICE detention centers in 2025 and, as of Aug. 4, 24 have died this year. At least 10 have died by suicide.
ICE has rounded up immigrants on their way to work, in their cars and outside their homes in front of their family members, including their small children. Those being arrested and carted off to detention centers range from people who have been living in the U.S. for a short amount of time to those that have been in the country for decades, raising their families, contributing to the workforce and serving as integral members of their communities. Trump blames the number of undocumented immigrants on former President Biden’s open borders. If this were the true reason for his deportation campaign, then why target so many that have lived here for so long?
Steve Miller, Trump’s White House Deputy Chief of Staff and Homeland Security Advisor, spearheads Trump’s immigration agenda. An investigative report by the Southern Poverty Law Center published leaked emails from Miller to editors at Breitbart News. Throughout the emails, Miller promotes literature, conspiracy theories and policies supported by white nationalist and anti-immigrant hate groups.
In a recent article in the Keene Sentinel, the Troy police chief, David Ellis, who’s town has a 287(g) agreement to support ICE and leads the state with close to 30 immigrant detentions, said in an interview in December that he stopped a truck driver from Ukraine who had a commercial driver’s license but did not have legal immigration status. He said that when he called ICE, they told him they “weren’t going to send him back to Ukraine” and to let him go. The other 29 immigrants that chief Ellis detained were non-white. Trump’s immigration agenda is steeped in racism.
Gov. Kelly Ayotte has banned “sanctuary cities” in New Hampshire, threatening towns with reduced state funding. These are cities and towns that support non-criminal immigrants in their communities. New Hampshire is the only state in the Northeast that has banned sanctuary cities.
Ayotte has strongly encouraged all New Hampshire law enforcement agencies to sign 287(g) immigration enforcement agreements with ICE. The State Police and over 20 town and county police departments have signed these agreements. Ayotte’s incentive for supporting ICE is to remain in good favor with the Republican party and Trump. The police department’s incentives are $7,500 for every officer signed into the program and $100,000 for each department signing the agreement.
Does staying in good favor politically and free money justify supporting the cruel, inhumane and lethal tactics of ICE upon fellow human beings? Does it justify supporting the destruction of families, the workplace and communities? Does it justify supporting the deportation of residents that have done nothing wrong, who have been enduring a broken immigration system waiting years to become citizens? Does it justify supporting the deportation of those that have work authorizations or asylum claims in process? Does it justify supporting racism?
When it comes time to vote this fall, know which candidates support ICE. Research as to where your candidate stands. A vote for Kelly Ayotte is a vote for ICE. A vote for most Republican candidates is a vote for ICE. Vote with a conscience. Vote NO for ICE!
Dan Bergeron lives in Henniker.