New Hampshire Republicans have put their foot down: No more sanctuary cities.
Surrounded by conservatives from the House and Senate, Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed two bills into law on Thursday that will prohibit municipalities from adopting so-called “sanctuary” or “welcoming” policies designed to keep local police from assisting with federal immigration enforcement.
“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. “We are the safest state in the nation. We’re gonna continue to be that, and this is a big step forward. There will be no sanctuary cities in New Hampshire. Period. End of story.”
House Bill 511 will outlaw new local sanctuary policies and overhaul existing ones. Senate Bill 62 will remove local authority to stop their police departments from signing onto federal 287(g) agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which deputize officers to carry out some immigration enforcement actions during their routine operations.
SB 62 also authorizes county jails to hold people for up to two days after their state or local charges have been resolved if they are subject to ICE detention.
Once these laws go into effect in January, they will override local sanctuary or welcoming policies.
Roughly a dozen towns and cities have enacted some form of these policies in recent years, either after a vote by local elected officials or residents themselves.
“They’re going to have to follow state law, and they’re no longer going to be able to do that,” Ayotte said. “Having a consistent policy for the state on this issue is the safest thing we can do for New Hampshire.”
Ayotte campaigned on banning sanctuary practices statewide, a stance that has been met with enthusiasm from GOP lawmakers. With expanded conservative majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, the new laws easily cleared both chambers almost entirely along party lines.
Charlotte Matherly is the statehouse reporter for the Concord Monitor and Monadnock Ledger-Transcript in partnership with Report for America. Follow her on X at @charmatherly, subscribe to her Capital Beat newsletter and send her an email at cmatherly@cmonitor.com.
