A Republican-backed bill the N.H. House passed last Thursday seeks to foster local cooperation with federal authorities in the enforcement of immigration law.

The legislative effort in Concord comes amid a Trump administration immigration crackdown that has led to lawsuits challenging fast-tracked deportations and alleging constitutional due process violations.

Republican-backed House Bill 62 passed along party lines, 200-162. The N.H. Senate approved a different version of the bill in January.

One section of the bill the House passed seeks to block sanctuary-city policies, or steps some local governments take to limit cooperation with federal authorities in enforcement of immigration laws.

Another portion of the bill says that if local police chiefs or sheriff’s agencies want to enter partnership agreements with the federal government on immigration enforcement, local governments such as selectboards or county commissions can’t stand in their way.

Opponents of the measure say it would infringe on local governance and has the potential to boost local police costs and increase property taxes.

Proponents say public safety concerns demand that immigration laws be strictly enforced.

Rep. Terry Roy, R-Deerfield, chairman of the N.H. House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee, spoke before the full House Thursday in favor of HB 62.

“We generally like local control. When you make decisions locally and they go well, good for you; if they go south, well, you tried. But this issue doesn’t stay local,” he said.

“When you make your community a haven for rapists and murderers, there’s no border at your town keeping them there. There’s no force field keeping them there. New Hampshire does not welcome illegals.”

While there have been high-profile criminal cases involving immigrants, studies have shown immigrants have significantly lower incarceration rates than U.S.-born people.

Rep. Jennifer Rhodes, R-Winchester, also spoke in favor of the bill. She said it doesn’t require that communities partner with the federal government on immigration enforcement, but simply allows this to occur.

“This bill is not in search of a problem because we clearly have one,” she said. “This is the solution.”

Among those speaking against the bill was Rep. David Meuse, D-Portsmouth.

He said immigrants are actually “the least likely segment of our population to commit crimes.”

Meuse also said local agencies that partner with federal immigration officials are creating costs for their communities. That’s one reason locally elected officials should be allowed to decide whether to go forward with such partnerships, he said.

“They’ll be questioning people about immigration status, checking Department of Homeland Security databases, issuing detainers, entering data, issuing documents to start removals, making recommendations on bonds, transferring people to ICE custody,” Meuse said. “It’s far from a trivial commitment in time or dollars.”

In addition to taking on costs and facing potential legal liability, local agencies that help in immigration enforcement “are being complicit in terrorizing anyone with a foreign accent or a different skin color,” Meuse said.

According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 531 law enforcement agencies in 38 states, including New Hampshire, have entered into agreements that allow local agencies to identify, arrest and detain people accused of immigration violations.

The cooperative program is known as 287(g) for a section of federal immigration law.

An ICE website indicates that as of Thursday there were 10 law enforcement agencies in New Hampshire participating in the program. The only participating agency in the Monadnock Region was the Troy Police Department, whose chief, David Ellis Jr., didn’t return a phone call for comment Friday, or for an earlier story The Sentinel did on this topic.

Troy selectboard member Dick Thackston has said the ICE agreement did not go through the selectboard, but that the town has historically taken the stance of partnership with state and federal agencies being a good thing.

Other participating agencies in New Hampshire are the State Police and police departments in Candia, Colebrook, Gorham, Ossipee and Pittsburg. Also participating are sheriff’s offices in Rockingham, Belknap and Grafton counties.

Even though HB 62 has already passed the Senate, senators will have to consider it again because of changes the House made in the legislation.

Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte has expressed support for local law enforcement agencies to partner in immigration enforcement.

These articles are being shared by partners in the Granite State News Collaborative. For more information, visit collaborativenh.org.