Big Money For Small NH Towns — 14 NH Law Enforcement Agencies Partner With ICE

By ZACH LAIRD, InDepth NH

The North Country town of Carroll recently received a wire transfer for $122,515 from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as a part of Immigration and Custom Enforcement’s (ICE) 287(g) program, which authorizes local law enforcement officers to perform immigration officer functions under direction and oversight of ICE.

According to the Carroll meeting minutes from the March 17 Select Board meeting, Chairperson Bonnie Moroney said the town of about 850 people would formally accept the funding. Police Lt. Ian MacMillan said the plan is to use the funds to purchase vehicles for the department, update technology services and improve security equipment in cells.

“Those fundings are earmarked from the government for vehicles and equipment for use by the police department,” MacMillan said in a follow-up conversation. “Agencies that were considered active or had some involvement with assisting ICE could be entitled to certain funding for vehicles and equipment, and that was issued automatically, it’s not for a time period.

“(The funding) is not for just participating in the program. If you take actions or do work for the federal government, there are certain monies that your agency might be entitled to, based upon that work that you’ve done for the government. That’s no different than any other program that the federal government offers.”

MacMillan explained the way the program works related to salary is that ICE reimburses the department for time spent assisting immigration efforts, though it’s separate from the $122,515 funding. He disputed the claim from wired.com, which first reported the story, that ICE is paying the officers’ salaries, noting that since they signed up in July 2025, the only time he’s requested reimbursement was for $943 for the detainment of seven individuals for ICE in Dec. 2025, which he said was part of investigations into DUI crashes.

MacMillan said he doesn’t expect to request a significant amount of reimbursements from ICE in the near future.

He continued that the salaries of the officers are funded by property taxes of residents within the town. He said the salaries that wired.com referred to were the element of the program that reimburses officers for time assisting immigration operations.

“Any time the department takes any action on behalf of the government, under that program we take timesheets and submit them to DHS, and they reimburse you for the hours, time and benefits for the officer that is used for that action on behalf of the government,” MacMillan said. “The funding is specifically for equipment that the department could use. It doesn’t go toward salaries.

“When we pay an officer an hourly rate, there’s obviously benefits the town is covering, like health, dental and vision insurance, that’s all part of the officer’s benefits package for working here in the town. ICE covers those costs as well. If you had a demand where you were constantly doing ICE work 24 hours a day for an officer, they would cover 100 percent (of the salary), plus about 25 percent of the overtime.”

MacMillan reiterated that the $122,515 in funding is strictly limited to expenses for equipment and technology software, not for the department’s operations on behalf of ICE.

The Memorandum of Agreement between ICE and the department gives officers the power and authority to “arrest without a warrant any alien attempting or unlawfully attempting to enter the United States in the officer’s presence or view, or any alien in the United States, if the officer has reason to believe the alien to be arrested is in the United States in violation of law, and is likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained.”

It gives officers the power to make an arrest without a warrant for felonies that have been committed that are cognizable under any law of the United States that regulates the admission, exclusion, expulsion or removal of aliens.

It also states that the agencies will be responsible and bear the costs of participating agencies personnel regarding their property or personal expenses incurred by reason of death, injury or incidents giving rise to liability.

President Donald Trump issued Executive Order 14159 on Jan. 20, 2025, requiring ICE to authorize both state and local law enforcement officers to assist with federal immigration efforts. The program requires law enforcement officers to undergo training, and makes departments eligible for awards and grants under the Department of Justice’s State Criminal Alien Assistance Program.

Other law enforcement agencies that signed up in New Hampshire are listed on ice.gov, including Auburn, Candia, Carroll, Colebrook, Epping, Gorham, Ossipee, Pittsburg and Troy. The Belknap, Grafton, Rockingham and Hillsborough county sheriff's departments also signed up, as well as state police. State Police didn't respond to InDepthNH.org about whether it has received ICE funds.

No ICE NH Organizer Ken Barnes said the program “doesn’t do any good for New Hampshire people, and it doesn’t help police enforce the laws.”

“In fact, it does the opposite because it takes away local and state police from doing their job with whatever crimes are going on,” Barnes said. “It takes time to do the federal government’s work for them. The police want to have good working relationships with the community, so that people feel comfortable calling the police when they see a potential crime. But if the police are joining ICE, roaming around and grabbing people off the streets, the people will be afraid to call 911 and ask for police assistance.”

Christine Wellington, a retired attorney who worked for many years at New Hampshire Legal Assistance and is an active advocate for immigrants’ rights, said she finds the program troubling because 287(g) programs have caused problems within neighborhoods and communities.

Wellington said the program promotes racial profiling and fosters distrust of police.

“We really think it has negative effects on community life, on law enforcement community relationships, and that it’s not something that has proven over time to be a productive use of local law enforcement,” Wellington said. “We feel that federal law enforcement – even before some of the abuses that we can now see on our TV screens – is more well-positioned to take care of complicated issues of immigration law.”

In late February, 2025, Gov. Kelly Ayotte encouraged New Hampshire law enforcement agencies to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement through agreements under section 287(g).

“It is critical for state and local law enforcement to cooperate with federal authorities and protect our citizens. Criminals who are in our country illegally and pose a danger should be apprehended and removed. I support and encourage New Hampshire law enforcement agencies to cooperate with ICE to enforce our laws and keep our communities safe,” Ayotte said.

New Hampshire Department of Safety Commissioner Robert L. Quinn said at the time:

“We are pleased to see that the federal government is interested in reinstating the task force model, which would grant both legal authority and protection to our State Troopers when they encounter individuals in the United States illegally. This agreement will strengthen our longstanding partnerships with federal, state, county and municipal law enforcement agencies, including efforts tied to our state-run Northern Border Alliance program. It also helps ensure New Hampshire’s law enforcement officers can act swiftly to remove dangerous criminals and keep our communities the safest in the Nation.”

This article first appeared on InDepthNH.org and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.