State Rep. Joe Sweeney stepped up to the microphone to deliver what he called a “simple, clear message” on behalf of New Hampshire residents: “If you are here illegally, you are not welcome in New Hampshire.”

He then testified during a public hearing on his legislation, House Bill 511, would back up that message with action by banning policies to establish sanctuary cities and local attempts to hinder cooperation with national immigration enforcement. The law would require police departments to comply with federal immigration officials with “no excuses, no games.”

Sweeney’s efforts come as President Donald Trump has issued a crackdown on illegal immigration nationwide, though his message may not resonate for all of New Hampshire. Several towns across the state have adopted policies to prevent their local police departments from aiding in immigration enforcement in various ways, and the president’s policies have solicited a great deal of attention at protests around Concord and the state in recent months.

The City of Concord itself, however, has not taken a public stance on the bill or the president’s policies, for that matter. Mayor Byron Champlin declined to answer questions about how the city’s police department would operate during Immigration Customs and Enforcement investigations. He did, however, say he prefers local control.

“I feel that municipal policy is best set at the local level,” Champlin said. “That’s kind of a basic ground rule for me.”

The Concord Police Department does not participate in immigration enforcement unless someone’s status relates to a broader criminal investigation, according to comments made by an officer to the Concord school board in March.

The proposed state law brings up bigger questions for towns like Hanover, Lebanon and Peterborough, which all adopted ordinances during the first Trump administration to prevent their local police departments from aiding in immigration enforcement in various ways. Places with those policies are often dubbed “sanctuary” or “welcoming” cities and towns.

A small cohort of people from Peterborough defended their town’s decision to state senators during the bill’s public hearing earlier this week.

“You’re instructing our police to go in and do something that the town itself is against,” said resident Linda Field. “You’re instructing us to be bystanders by law when we don’t see that a crime has been committed.”

Sweeney’s HB 511 wouldn’t force local law enforcement to participate in any partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement but would prohibit them from actively interfering with any ICE investigation. It would also strip the rights of towns to adopt so-called “sanctuary” policies.

If passed, the new state law would outrank local policies. The attorney general’s office could step in if any municipality attempted to defy it.

The bill soared through the House of Representatives on its first vote with a 351-6 margin. Things changed when the Finance Committee, which reviews all passed legislation with a budgetary impact, took a stab at it. At that point, most Democrats changed their minds. A second vote by the full House still passed, but came in at 206-161, along party lines.

The debate struck a chord for some from the town of Harrisville, where a local pastor, Rev. David Robins, said this same issue was debated several years ago. A request was made at town meeting to have the town’s police department work with ICE.

“The people at that annual meeting were very concerned about having our local control of our small, little police force pressured, taken away from us and used in ways that we don’t want to,” Robins said.

In a separate effort from HB 511, Gov. Kelly Ayotte has encouraged police departments to sign up for active partnerships with ICE, including the state police. If a police department applies and is approved, officers in that jurisdiction can be deputized to carry out immigration checks during routine operations.

Hanover residents will consider a warrant article at their town meeting that would ask local officials not to enter into one of those agreements. Ten county and municipal law enforcement agencies have signed up so far, including the New Hampshire State Police.

The issue also hits especially close to home for Peterborough, where federal agents searched a local Mexican restaurant in February and said they located four individuals they were seeking. As the town’s ordinance directs, the Peterborough Police Department did not get involved with the search.

“We keep being told that there are criminals or dangerous people, and they’re going to protect us from these dangerous people,” Field said. “What they did was they found some person who had been living in our town, working for four years, had a little family – people knew him, everything was lovely – they took him away.”

ICE has not yet released the names or statuses of the four people that federal agents arrested in the town.

Republican lawmakers argued that even if residents may not see a crime actively being committed, people who are in the country without proper documentation are breaking the law.

“Entering the country illegally is a crime. They are criminals,” said Weare Rep. Ross Berry. “If you do not come into this country with documentation, if you are not authorized to enter here, you are a criminal. Period.”

Many who testified argued that the bill would stifle local control. Glennifer Gillespie, a Peterborough resident who said she is a legal immigrant from South Africa, told senators that she moved to New Hampshire because of its “history of grassroots democracy.” She argued that towns should be able to govern themselves, with each given the right to ground their policies in their specific values.

But Berry maintained that local rights are given and can be taken away.

“Every right that a town has actually flows from the state down to the town,” Berry said. “We as a state have every right to tell a town, ‘No, you cannot adopt this sanctuary city policy.’”

Sandown Sen. Bill Gannon, a Republican who heads the Senate Finance Committee, argued that the state needs to step in on some matters because a town’s actions don’t exist in a vacuum.

“Do we not have a right as a state, because the actions of your town will let the people in who the rest of the state may not have?” Gannon asked. “Your actions are going to affect the next town.”

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.