Don't go to New Hampshire, Mass. attorney warns immigrants
Immigration attorneys are warning immigrants without full legal status to avoid crossing state lines, especially into New Hampshire and Maine, due to local law enforcement agencies collaborating with federal immigration agencies on arrests — even of immigrants with valid work authorization.
As the Trump administration has stepped up its mass deportation agenda this year, several attorneys are warning their clients to steer clear of the two states after incidents of immigrants with work authorization being taken into custody when traveling to and from job sites.
Immigrants who lack full legal status, such as asylum seekers, should avoid states where local police departments might call federal immigration authorities, attorney Fernanda Marra Romeiro of Celedon Law in Marlborough told The Boston Globe.
"That's basically the warning that we've been giving our clients or prospect clients: to avoid driving in New Hampshire, avoid going to New Hampshire ... because even if you're a passenger, the motor vehicle that you're in could get stopped," she told the outlet.
In May, Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed a new law that banned sanctuary cities and supported cooperation between state and local law enforcement and federal immigration agencies.
"I said from the beginning that we won't let our state go the way of Massachusetts and their billion-dollar illegal immigrant crisis," Ayotte said at the time.
Last week, activists in New Hampshire gathered at a church in Concord to announce their intention to respond to the Trump administration's mass deportations, according to NHPR.
The effort is called "sanctuary communities," and calls for the formation of informal groups of residents who declare that they will assist immigrants targeted by ICE.
"We will do whatever is necessary, legal and moral, to protect ourselves and fellow residents of New Hampshire," said Manchester resident and activist Philip Kaifer, NHPR reported. "We will surveil ICE raids. We will record them. We will report them to state and national media, as well as to local law enforcement and to the institutions in our communities."
Massachusetts lawmakers met this week for a hearing on the Safe Communities Act , a proposed law in response to the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.
State Sen. Jamie Eldridge, D-Middlesex/Worcester, one of the lead sponsors, outlined four key provisions of the bill during his testimony. He said that the bill would make sure that state taxpayer resources and state and local law enforcement are not involved with collaborations that lead to the detention and the breaking apart of immigrant families.
Communities across the state have enacted similar policies, but the bill would create a statewide standard, according to Eldridge.
"The bill would prohibit the questioning of people on their immigration status," Eldridge explained. "It would protect access to justice in our courts ... It would require notice to that immigrant who happens to be arrested for a criminal offense that he or she can hire a lawyer to represent them on the immigration matter. And lastly, to prohibit 287 agreements, which in other states, local police, sheriffs actually being deputized to act as immigration agents."
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