WASHINGTON, Feb 24 (Reuters) – The Trump administration has scrapped plans for an immigration detention facility in Merrimack, New Hampshire, the state’s Republican governor said on Tuesday, as localities grapple with a surge in planned detention centers nationwide.
“The Department of Homeland Security will not move forward with the proposed ICE facility in Merrimack,” the New England state’s governor, Kelly Ayotte, wrote on X following a meeting with DHS Secretary Kristi Noem in Washington last week.
Ayotte said she expressed the concerns of the town roughly 50 miles (80.5 kilometers) northeast of Boston, and that New Hampshire law enforcement would continue to cooperate with DHS to secure the state’s northern border with Canada.
Noem, in a statement from DHS, confirmed the meeting and said it would continue to work with New Hampshire, calling it “a strong partner.”
The withdrawal comes as Republican President Donald Trump enacts his sweeping immigration campaign pledges. The deportation drive’s aggressive tactics have been met with growing U.S. voter disapproval ahead of the November midterm election that will decide control of Congress.
ICE and U.S. Border Patrol agents have surged into major U.S. cities such as Los Angeles and Chicago, sweeping through neighborhoods and clashing with residents. Federal agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis in January, and another citizen was shot and killed last year in Texas.
Trump’s administration is also moving to increase detention centers to house immigrants as it ramps up its raids, spending more than $38 billion this year for facilities that have drawn criticism from Democrats as well as concerns from Ayotte and other Republicans.
Democrats, civil rights groups, clergy and other critics have cited human rights, legal and health concerns, including dismal conditions, poor treatment and diseases such as measles at various detention facilities, which are run by companies including GEO Group and CoreCivic.
At least eight people have died in ICE detention centers since the start of 2026, following at least 31 deaths last year.
On Tuesday, Democratic-led Maryland sued the Trump administration to halt a detention facility in its western Washington County.
DHS officials have rejected any claims that the buildings are akin to “warehouses.”
Senate Democrats have blocked funding for DHS as they seek to rein in ICE. White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday that Trump would use his State of the Union speech later that night to call for funding to be approved.
(Reporting by Susan Heavey in Washington; additional reporting by Ted Hesson and Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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