Independent New Hampshire Journalism · Northfield, NHICE’s own roster lists 31 New Hampshire agencies whose officers can do immigration work, 20 of them added in 2026. The rest of New England has one.
Thirty-one New Hampshire law enforcement agencies have signed agreements that let their officers act as federal immigration agents. The list, published by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, runs from the State Police and three county sheriffs to 27 town police departments. Eleven signed in 2025. Twenty more have signed in 2026, the latest on November 3. In the other five New England states combined, ICE lists one such agreement.
Those figures come from ICE’s own roster of participating agencies, dated November 12, 2026. This report, the fifth in a GSR series on law enforcement, sets out what ICE may do, how big it has become, what it does in New Hampshire, and who checks it.
The short version: ICE is two agencies under one name, a deportation force and a criminal investigations bureau. Congress has handed it more than $113 billion outside the regular budget in two laws. In New Hampshire, much of its arrest work now runs through local police.
Related coverage. GSR’s profile of the U.S. Marshals Service reports that ICE is a listed member of the Marshals’ New Hampshire fugitive task force and an authorized user of the Strafford County jail under the Marshals’ agreement. The series began with the DEA.
Where it came from
ICE is young. Its own history dates it to March 2003, when the Homeland Security Act reorganized the government and placed the new agency inside the Department of Homeland Security. That page still describes an agency of more than 20,000 people and about $8 billion a year. Both numbers are out of date.
The agency has three operating arms. Enforcement and Removal Operations finds, detains, and deports people. Homeland Security Investigations works criminal cases such as smuggling, trafficking, and child exploitation. The Office of the Principal Legal Advisor is the agency’s legal arm.
How big it is now
Todd M. Lyons, the senior official performing the duties of director, told House appropriators on April 16, 2026, that ICE had 30,215 personnel and had hired about 11,000 officers and agents in under a year. He asked for $10 billion in regular funding for fiscal 2027, including $5.4 billion for removal operations, $2.6 billion for investigations, and 41,500 detention beds.
The regular budget is the small part. Lyons testified that the 2025 budget reconciliation law gave ICE $75 billion. On June 10, 2026, a second law, the Secure America Act, gave the agency another $38.5 billion, available through September 2029. Of that, $31.1 billion is for immigration enforcement and $7.5 billion is for investigators.
The Congressional Research Service reported in September 2026 that the fiscal 2026 appropriations act did not include ICE’s main operating account at all. The fiscal 2027 request proposes restoring it.
What an officer can do
Two things in that text matter to a New Hampshire reader. First, the section 1226 warrant comes from the executive branch. The statute names the Attorney General, and no judge. Second, subsection (g) is the source of every agreement on ICE’s New Hampshire list. It is where the program gets its name: section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
ICE counts 2,774 of those agreements nationwide in 38 states and two territories. It sorts them into three models. All 31 in New Hampshire are the Task Force Model, the one of the three that ICE reports most often, with 2,013.
The half nobody films
Arrests are the visible part. Detention is the larger one. CBS News reported in January 2026, citing internal Homeland Security data, that about 73,000 people were in ICE custody, a record, and that roughly 47 percent had criminal charges or convictions. By early April, Axios reported, ICE’s official count was just over 60,000.
ICE does not own all of the space it uses; in New Hampshire it has used a county jail and a federal prison. It has also bought space it will not use. The Government Accountability Office found in September 2026 that ICE bought 11 warehouses for about $1.07 billion to convert into detention centers, then moved to sell seven of them. More than $20 million spent on those seven cannot be recovered. The auditors said ICE expanded detention without “a comprehensive strategic plan.” The department agreed and said a plan would be done by August 31, 2027.
The other half is the investigations bureau, which rarely makes the immigration news. Lyons credited it with more than 4,800 child exploitation arrests in 2025. That is the agency’s account.
ICE in New Hampshire
ICE’s Boston field offices cover New Hampshire along with the rest of New England. NHPR has reported that most arrests in the state run through an ICE office in downtown Manchester.
The 287(g) roster is the state’s distinguishing fact. Gorham’s police department signed first, on February 26, 2025. The Belknap County sheriff followed in March, the Rockingham County sheriff and the State Police in April, and the Hillsborough County sheriff in May. Then the pace slowed, and in the spring of 2026 it took off: eleven departments signed between April and June alone.
The 27 town departments on the list are Auburn, Brentwood, Candia, Carroll, Chester, Chichester, Colebrook, Danville, Epping, Gorham, Hillsboro, Hinsdale, Kingston, Lancaster, Middleton, Milton, New Boston, New Durham, Newton, Ossipee, Pittsburg (which ICE spells Pittsburgh), Pittsfield, Rindge, South Hampton, Troy, Weare, and Whitefield.
State law cleared the way. Two laws Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed on May 22, 2025, as InDepthNH reported, require local cooperation with immigration detainers and stop local governments from blocking their police from signing 287(g) agreements.
The agreements produce arrests. NHPR, analyzing ICE records obtained by the Deportation Data Project, counted 198 people detained in New Hampshire from May through July 2026 and said nearly half were arrested by local officers. It counted more than 700 detained in the state since January 2025, and found that about one-third of those arrested had a criminal conviction.
Then there is where people are held. Records published by the Prison Policy Initiative show ICE averaging about 126 people a day at the Strafford County jail in April 2025, with 100 beds guaranteed, and about 217 a day at the federal prison in Berlin, which held none in January of that year. A third site did not happen. Ayotte announced on February 24, 2026, that the department would not go forward with a detention warehouse in Merrimack.
Who checks it
Congress holds the purse and has opened it. Immigration judges and federal courts review individual cases. The Homeland Security inspector general and the GAO audit the agency, and the GAO’s warehouse report is the recent proof.
The offices built to take complaints from inside detention are another matter. Federal News Network reported in January 2026 that the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman had gone from roughly 100 employees to fewer than 10, and that the department’s civil rights office had gone from more than 150 to a planned 20 or so.
In New Hampshire, the check on a 287(g) agreement is local and thin. The statute says the work is done at local expense. State law now stops a town from forbidding its police to sign. What is left is the budget, the police chief, and the public record. The ACLU of New Hampshire sued ICE in January 2026 under the Freedom of Information Act for the materials used to train New Hampshire officers, saying the agency had not answered its request.
What the record does not show
ICE’s roster gives names and dates and nothing else. It does not say how many officers in each New Hampshire department are deputized, what they have done, or what the department has been paid. This report did not establish how many ICE employees work in the state. The detention counts for Dover and Berlin stop at April 2025.
Those are records questions. Each of the 31 agencies holds its own signed agreement, and each is subject to RSA 91-A, the Right-to-Know Law, which gives every person the same right to ask for it.
ICE in New Hampshire is no longer only a federal office in Manchester. It is also the State Police, three sheriffs’ offices, and 27 town departments from Hinsdale to Lancaster. The money behind it is set through 2029. The complaint offices are a fraction of what they were. The closest check a resident has is the one at town hall: ask to see the agreement.
Your Turn
Poll: Should a police department need a public vote in its town before signing an agreement with ICE?
A) Yes · B) No, the chief should decide · C) Only if it costs local money · D) Not sure
Vote in the Your Voice poll under this article, or send your answer to granitestatereport@gmail.com.
Survey: Has your town’s police department signed a 287(g) agreement, and did you know before reading this? Have you seen or been part of an immigration arrest in New Hampshire? Tell GSR your town, what you saw, the year, and whether we may follow up. Nothing is published with your name unless you agree in writing. Take the survey on the site, or send answers to granitestatereport@gmail.com.
Discuss: Who should decide whether a town’s officers do federal immigration work: the chief, the select board, or the voters? And what should a department that signs be required to report to the public?
Fact check
| # | Claim | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ICE lists 31 New Hampshire 287(g) agreements: the State Police, three county sheriffs (Belknap, Hillsborough, Rockingham) and 27 municipal departments; all Task Force Model; 11 signed in 2025 and 20 in 2026; first Gorham, Feb. 26, 2025; latest Lancaster, Nov. 3, 2026. | VERIFIED | ICE, 287(g) participating agencies list, read Nov. 14, 2026 (list dated Nov. 12, 2026) |
| 2 | The 27 municipal departments named in the article. | VERIFIED | ICE, 287(g) participating agencies list (ICE spells Pittsburg as Pittsburgh) |
| 3 | The other five New England states have one agreement on the list (Massachusetts Department of Correction). | VERIFIED | ICE, 287(g) participating agencies list |
| 4 | 2,774 agreements in 38 states and two territories; 2,013 Task Force Model, 577 Warrant Service Officer, 184 Jail Enforcement Model. | VERIFIED | ICE, 287(g) program page, as of Nov. 12, 2026 |
| 5 | Eleven New Hampshire departments signed between April and June 2026; quarterly counts 6, 4, 1, 0, 3, 11, 4, 2. | ATTRIBUTED | GSR count from the signing dates on ICE’s list |
| 6 | ICE dates itself to March 2003 under the Homeland Security Act; its history page gives more than 20,000 personnel and about $8 billion a year; directorates are ERO, HSI and OPLA. | VERIFIED | ICE, History |
| 7 | 30,215 personnel; about 11,000 officers and agents hired in under a year; $10 billion fiscal 2027 request; $5.4 billion ERO; $2.6 billion HSI; 41,500 beds; $75 billion from the 2025 reconciliation law; more than 4,800 child exploitation arrests in 2025. | ATTRIBUTED | Statement of Todd M. Lyons, House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, April 16, 2026 (the agency’s account) |
| 8 | Secure America Act approved June 10, 2026: $31.075 billion to ICE for immigration enforcement and $7.45 billion for Homeland Security Investigations, available through Sept. 30, 2029; ICE total $38.525 billion. | VERIFIED | Public Law 119-98 |
| 9 | More than $113 billion in the two laws. | ATTRIBUTED | GSR computation ($75 billion plus $38.525 billion) |
| 10 | The fiscal 2026 appropriations act did not include ICE’s Operations and Support account; the fiscal 2027 request proposes restoring it. | ATTRIBUTED | Congressional Research Service, R49342, Sept. 5, 2026 |
| 11 | Officers may question, without a warrant, a person believed to be a noncitizen, and arrest a noncitizen entering unlawfully in their presence; state and local officers may act under written agreements at state or local expense. | VERIFIED | 8 U.S.C. § 1357(a) and (g) |
| 12 | Arrest and detention on a warrant issued by the Attorney General while removal is decided. | VERIFIED | 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) |
| 13 | About 73,000 people in ICE custody in mid-January 2026, a record; roughly 47 percent with criminal charges or convictions. | ATTRIBUTED | CBS News, Jan. 16, 2026, citing internal DHS data |
| 14 | ICE’s official count was just over 60,000 in early April 2026. | ATTRIBUTED | Axios, June 12, 2026 |
| 15 | ICE bought 11 warehouses for about $1.07 billion; was working to sell seven as of June 2026; more than $20 million unrecoverable; no comprehensive strategic plan; DHS agreed; plan expected by Aug. 31, 2027. | VERIFIED | GAO-26-108663, Sept. 24, 2026 |
| 16 | ICE’s Boston field offices list New Hampshire in their area of responsibility with the other five New England states. | VERIFIED | ICE, Field Offices |
| 17 | Most New Hampshire arrests run through an ICE office in downtown Manchester; 198 people detained May through July 2026, nearly half arrested by local officers; more than 700 detained since January 2025; about one-third had a criminal conviction. | ATTRIBUTED | NHPR, Sept. 14, 2026, analyzing ICE records obtained by the Deportation Data Project |
| 18 | Two laws signed May 22, 2025, require cooperation with detainers and stop local governments from blocking 287(g) agreements. | ATTRIBUTED | InDepthNH, June 25, 2025 |
| 19 | ICE averaged about 126 people a day at the Strafford County jail in April 2025 with a guaranteed minimum of 100, and about 217 a day at FCI Berlin, up from none in January 2025. | ATTRIBUTED | Prison Policy Initiative, Hiding in Plain Sight, Appendix 4 (July 2025) |
| 20 | DHS will not go forward with a detention warehouse in Merrimack, per the governor’s Feb. 24, 2026, announcement. | ATTRIBUTED | InDepthNH, Feb. 24, 2026 |
| 21 | The Immigration Detention Ombudsman went from roughly 100 employees to fewer than 10; the civil rights office from more than 150 to a planned 20 or so. | ATTRIBUTED | Federal News Network, January 2026 |
| 22 | ACLU of New Hampshire sued ICE on Jan. 15, 2026, under FOIA for 287(g) training materials. | ATTRIBUTED | InDepthNH, Jan. 15, 2026 |
| 23 | ICE is a listed member of the Marshals’ New Hampshire task force and an authorized user under the Marshals’ Strafford County jail agreement. | VERIFIED | U.S. Marshals Service, District of New Hampshire page and posted agreement, as reported in GSR’s Marshals profile |
| 24 | The roster does not give officer counts, activity or payments by department; ICE staffing in New Hampshire was not established; detention counts for Dover and Berlin end at April 2025. | ATTRIBUTED | GSR review of the documents listed in Sources; an absence of located evidence, not proof that none exists |
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Editor’s note. Every factual claim above was checked against the sources listed; see the fact-check table. Fiscal 2027 figures are requests to Congress, not enacted appropriations. The roster of New Hampshire agencies is ICE’s own and was read on November 14, 2026; it changes as agencies sign. Arrest and detention figures for New Hampshire come from news organizations and a research group working from agency records. GSR did not ask ICE or the 31 agencies for comment before publication. The audio narration is a synthetic voice. Featured photograph: an ICE officer makes an arrest during a March 2019 operation in North Texas and Oklahoma; it is an ICE photograph and is not from New Hampshire. Corrections: Granite State Report corrects verified errors promptly and appends a note identifying what changed and when.
