By Carlota de Almeida 
Image credits: AFSC Website
Since the beginning of 2025, the United States has witnessed an unprecedented escalation of immigration enforcement with highly publicized raids, expedited deportations, and a record number of people with valid status or temporary protections in immigration detention. In New Hampshire, local and state law enforcement are increasingly carrying out federal immigration enforcement.
Reflecting on the current state of immigrant justice in the state, Maggie Fogarty, New Hampshire Program Director at the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), spoke with the New Hampshire Center for Justice & Equity (NHCJE) about the impact of mass immigration detention and deportation on community trust and well-being.
The Myth of the "Criminal Alien"
The narrative justifying stricter immigration policies relies on dehumanization and painting immigrants, especially immigrants of color, as dangerous criminals who threaten public safety.
According to the ACLU, being undocumented in the United States is not a crime, and only certain actions, like unlawful entry or reentry after deportation, carry criminal penalties under federal law.
Despite this, both federal and local governments have increasingly used terms like “criminal alien” or “illegal immigrant” over the years to target undocumented immigrants, fueling misleading perceptions that equate immigration status with criminality, even though most immigration enforcement occurs through civil, not criminal, proceedings.
For Fogarty, this framing also echoes well-documented racial disparities observed in the legal system. "We already know who gets criminalized in our society, who grows up in conditions that don't provide equal opportunity, who gets over-policed, over-surveilled, over-charged, and over-sentenced in a deeply racist legal system,” she highlighted. “That's why we don't call it the criminal justice system.”
However, the facts don’t corroborate the anti-immigrant rhetoric. As of the fall of 2025, around 60,000 people are being held by ICE, 71.5% of whom have no criminal convictions. Of the remaining 29%, most have only minor infractions, including traffic violations.
“We already know who gets criminalized in our society, who grows up in conditions that don’t provide equal opportunity, who gets over-policed, over-surveilled, over-charged, and over-sentenced in a deeply racist legal system. That’s why we don’t call it the criminal justice system.”
The Human Cost of Aggressive Immigration Enforcement
Beyond the loss of trust, the climate of fear created by aggressive immigration enforcement affects everyone regardless of immigration status. Lawful permanent residents, visa holders like international students and seasonal workers, and even American citizens are also being targeted. And the statistics don’t capture the human toll of these hostile policies.
People are unjustifiably detained, families are torn apart, children lose classmates, and our communities suffer and become less vibrant and diverse. Forgarty recalled the stories of families who quietly went back to their home countries this summer. "Those are households that were a part of our community, and this community has become an intolerable place for them to stay," she reflects. "What a loss for everyone, even if not everybody realizes it."
Through AFSC's long-standing visitation program at Strafford County Jail, Fogarty and her team of volunteers witness the impacts of the current environment firsthand. "It just adds to the isolation of pain if people can't connect with their loved ones," she noted, adding how families are already in an economic crisis because "it's often the breadwinner who's been detained and they can't afford the exorbitant phone rates to stay in touch.”
Institutional complicity also plays a big role. Healthcare, hospitality, agriculture, and education all depend heavily on immigrant workers, and only a few institutions are willing to take public stands to protect these workers, even as their presence remains essential to New Hampshire's economy. "If they don't feel strong enough to resist, then how's an immigrant family supposed to?" emphasized Fogarty.
“Those are households that were a part of our community, and this community has become an intolerable place for them to stay. What a loss for everyone, even if not everybody realizes it.”
Trust Erodes As Local Police Partner with ICE
For years, advocates in New Hampshire have worked town by town to build trust between BIPOC and immigrant communities and local law enforcement, working to move beyond a history of systemic discrimination and racial profiling. That foundation of trust is now crumbling.
As of summer 2025, twelve New Hampshire law enforcement agencies have entered 287(g) agreements to partner with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. This federal program deputizes local police, sheriffs, and state troopers to act as immigration agents, undoing years of careful community-building and creating an atmosphere of fear that affects entire communities, especially people of color and immigrants.
“When people feel safe engaging with law enforcement when they've been a victim of a crime or a witness to a crime, the entire community becomes safer, ” said Fogarty. “One could argue that now, because New Hampshire was an early sign-on to the 287G agreements, all of that goes out the window.” When immigration enforcement actions happen at routine traffic stops, court appearances, and immigration check-ins, any interaction with official systems could lead to detention and separation from family without due process, regardless of a person’s status in the country.
The problem is further complicated because local leaders cannot make the decisions that reflect the relationships that have been built in their communities. One of New Hampshire's new anti-sanctuary laws removed the ability of municipalities and counties to prohibit their law enforcement from formally contracting with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). While the law doesn't mandate cooperation, it strips local elected officials of the power to decline these contracts on behalf of their constituents.
“County taxpayers and state funds aren’t meant for immigration enforcement,” Fogarty noted. “Communities suffer when their local funds are diverted to support the federal anti-immigrant agenda,” she added.
“County taxpayers and state funds aren’t meant for immigration enforcement. Communities suffer when their local funds are diverted to support the federal anti-immigrant agenda.”
Financial Incentives for ICE Detention Raise Ethical Concerns
The growing financial incentives behind immigration enforcement and detention are troubling. In New Hampshire, the main Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention site is the Strafford County Jail in Dover. Under its current contract, the facility receives $100 per day for each person detained.
The Berlin Federal Correctional Institution also began housing ICE detainees this year, and the Portsmouth International Airport at Pease was used for deportation flights between mid-July and early September despite strong opposition from the community.
Recently, an investigation from the Washington Post, cited by NHPR, uncovered that ICE planned to add 221 detention beds in the Granite State through contracts in Hillsborough, Rockingham, and Merrimack counties. Although Rockingham and Merrimack have expressed interest in establishing contracts as a source of revenue, this has met with pushback by the community. In Hillsborough County, dozens of community members testified in opposition to the contract, prompting officials to vote against allocating $734,781 to update the Valley Street Jail in Manchester in order for it to be used for immigration detention.
New Hampshire Can Do Better: Resistance and Solidarity
Despite these challenges, there are efforts to support NH’s communities. Organizations like AFSC, the ACLU of New Hampshire, Granite State Organizing Project, the New Hampshire Immigrant Rights Network, the Seacoast Interfaith Sanctuary Coalition, and other local and regional groups are coordinating advocacy and providing direct support to vulnerable community members.
"People just need to know more of what's going on," Fogarty stated. The path forward requires "finding ways to show up in solidarity, finding ways to listen to and support immigrant leadership," she added.
Granite Staters have many opportunities to support people and organizations who are working to make sure NH community members are treated fairly. This includes opposing the expansion of detention facilities, supporting legislation to increase transparency around 287(g) agreements, and getting involved in local networks to provide information, temporary housing, support, and community for immigrants.
The state had been making progress toward becoming more welcoming and diverse. True community requires trust, inclusion, and accountability, not intimidation and surveillance. The erosion of due process and the normalization of treating neighbors as threats won’t stop at immigration status. When we allow our institutions to dehumanize and target any group, we make it easier for those same tools to be turned on anyone.
The work of building welcoming, safe communities requires sustained effort, uncomfortable conversations that push us towards generative action, and a willingness to stand up when our institutions fail to protect everyone. As Fogarty noted, "It is a worthwhile tension to navigate and not assume that silence is going to keep people safe." Our communities depend on our willingness to act, speak up, and insist that New Hampshire can do better.
About Maggie Fogarty
Maggie Fogarty, New Hampshire Program Director, AFSC
Maggie Fogarty joined the American Friends Service Committee’s New Hampshire Program in 2007 after several years of social justice work in Bolivia. Grounded in Quaker values, she organizes for economic and racial justice, immigrant rights, and nonviolence. Maggie co-convenes the NH Immigrant Rights Network and NH Voices of Faith, facilitates the Seacoast Interfaith Sanctuary Coalition, and co-leads the NH Immigrant Visitation Program. She serves on the NH Council of Churches board and the Dover School Board. A Dover resident with her husband, she holds degrees from Sweet Briar College and Villanova University and is a member of Dover Friends Meeting.