LEBANON, Vt. (WCAX) – Lawmakers in New Hampshire are taking steps to end what are known as “sanctuary cities” in the Granite State. It comes as municipalities across the region are waiting to see if the Trump administration will single out communities that took steps to protect migrants during the president’s first term.
The Welcoming Lebanon Ordinance prevents local law enforcement from targeting people based on immigration status and prohibits them from cooperating with federal immigration officers.
But two new bills passed by New Hampshire lawmakers could change that. One would ban “sanctuary cities” and the other would specifically allow police departments to partner with federal authorities to track down undocumented immigrants.
State Senator Sue Prentiss, D-District 5, was among Democrats in the Senate to vote against the bills. “I think that these bills target certain individuals rather than addressing the real issues that communities are facing when it has to do with public safety,” she said.
The lawmaker from Lebanon says local police over the past several years have only detained three people with questionable immigration status and she says first responders are already short-staffed. “So, if local law enforcement is tied up doing the job of the federal government, who is making sure that my daughter is safe walking to school?” Prentiss said.
The town of Hartford, across the river in Vermont, has a similar welcoming ordinance, although Town Manager John Haverstock said local, state, and federal partnerships still exist. “We are happy to work with our federal partners when there are matters of underlying criminal activity,” he said.
Hartford residents back in 2019 took to the street protesting the first Trump administration’s immigration policies. Vermont has a statewide Fair Policing Policy and Haverstock says no immediate changes are planned. “We don’t know of any actual situations in which the federal government has asked for the town’s assistance and it has been denied,” he said.
The city manager in Lebanon told us that if state immigration laws change, the local ordinance could as well.
“You commit a crime, you are held accountable, regardless of your immigration status,” Prentiss said.
The police chief in Lebanon says his department’s priority will continue to be law enforcement at the local level.