Protesters urge Rockingham County to reject ICE detainee deal
Seacoastonline | Brandon Ng
Rockingham County commissioners are considering a contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to house federal detainees.
Protesters, including faith leaders and politicians, urged the commission to reject the contract on moral and practical grounds.
The three-member commission is divided, with one member opposed, one in favor, and one undecided.
A final vote will occur after a financial review and a future public hearing.
BRENTWOOD — In her six years as a county commissioner, Kathryn Coyle has “never seen so much community engagement” at a meeting.
Coyle, a Portsmouth Democrat, was referring to the crowd that arrived in Brentwood Jan. 29 to demonstrate against the county’s pending contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to house federal detainees in the county jail.
The group of protesters, which included state representatives and faith leaders, brandished signs and addressed the commissioners personally. They urged the three-member commission to reject a federal partnership on moral and practical grounds. Not one public comment was made in support of the contract.
The commissioners received the 33-page contract several weeks ago and have since begun a comprehensive financial review. They have promised to hold a public hearing once that review process is complete, at the end of which a formal vote will be held.
That public hearing, said one of the commission’s two Republican members, Steven Goddu of Salem, is likely at least a month away. If the contract is ultimately approved without amendments, the Rockingham County Jail would agree to house up to 150 adult male detainees at a rate of $151.66 per person per day.
ICE, according to the contract, would also pay for the cost of guards, mileage reimbursement, and a Voluntary Work Program — which allows detainees to work for $1 per day.
But all three commissioners have said that they have serious questions for federal officials, including about the logistics and potential “hidden costs” of housing their detainees. Coyle has said she remains adamantly opposed to a federal partnership, and Goddu has expressed his continued support.
The commission’s other Republican, Thomas Tombarello of Sandown, will hold the deciding vote. And he has expressed discomfort with the idea in interviews and public meetings.
Residents to commissioners: ‘Throw this contract in the trash’
A lengthy, nearly two-hour-long public comment session saw many county residents make personal pleas for the contract’s rejection. Several of them were leaders of various congregations around the Seacoast.
We’re in a place where churches — Catholic diocese, progressive Protestant denominations across the board — we don’t agree on anything,” said the Rev. Emily Carrington Heath of Exeter. “We don’t agree on marriage, divorce or reproductive health. We agree on this.”
The Rev. Christana Wille McKnight of Portsmouth, who said she was born in raised in south Minneapolis, visited the city, one of the centers of President Donald Trump’s ICE operations, for a week.
“To say this is a moral moment is an understatement,” McKnight said. “I invite — I beg you to go to the city where I was raised.”
Several local Democrats joined them, including Carleigh Beriont, the vice chair of Hampton’s Select Board and a candidate for Congress; Karishma Manzur, who is challenging Rep. Chris Pappas in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate; and state Rep. Linda Haskins, D-Exeter.
Beriont referenced a Portland Press Herald report noting that Cumberland County officials, who have an agreement with ICE to house detainees, have not been paid in the past few months.
And several local residents, including Glenn Preston, a farmer in Lee, praised the contributions of immigrants to their communities, citing his experience living in Portland, Maine.
“Throw this contract in the trash,” he urged. “It’s blood money.”
The last speaker, who identified only as Jaz, said the first family member was detained by ICE when Jaz was about 3 years old. About 12 years later, in 2016, an uncle was detained and held in the Strafford County Jail, which has previously entered into a relationship with federal authorities.
“Detaining more immigrants is not helping anyone,” Jaz said. “And it’s only going to divide the community even further.”
Please vote against this,” Jaz added. “I know the vote isn’t happening right now, but don’t let this board be the reason more painful memories come to this community.”
The testimony moved Tombarello, who said after, “That young person who just came, that kind of got me touched.”
He commented on another statement, made earlier by a person who said their 11-year-old child worried for their safety when they attended a protest.
“What are we doing in this country?” Tombarello said.
Where do the county commissioners stand?
Coyle, the lone dissent when the commission voted in April to submit a proposal to ICE, has consistently said she is opposed to a federal partnership.
Though she said she is “morally and ethically” opposed on a personal level to “what is taking place by ICE in our community,” the commissioners’ decision will not be a partisan one.
“It’s what’s best for Rockingham County, and when we look at that, what I’ve seen so far is I don’t think this contract is the best for Rockingham County,” she said.
Goddu, who spoke after, said he disagreed with Coyle. “In general,” he said, “I’m in favor of housing ICE detainees here at the jail."
He said allowing federal authorities to use the county jail would ensure the humane treatment of those already detained.
“Rockingham County currently cooperates with every law enforcement agency in the area,” he said. “We cooperate with federal, state and interstate law enforcement agencies. We work with them all the time.”
“We’re just landlords,” he added.
Tombarello spoke last, saying that he still “had a lot of questions” for ICE officials to answer. Though he conceded that the potential windfall for the county, which could amount to around $6 million, according to a preliminary financial analysis, was “really appetizing,” the impact on the county’s already-strained corrections workforce and the unrest in American cities like Minneapolis gave him pause.
“I looked at the news, and I saw them shooting that guy,” he said, referring to Alex Pretti, the intensive care nurse who was fatally shot by Customs and Border Protection agents on Jan. 24.
“I’m horrified,” he added. “I’m an ex-sheriff. I would never do what they did.”
The public will have another chance to weigh in once the special public hearing is scheduled. The burden of being the commission’s swing vote has been heavily weighing on Tombarello, he said, though he promised to continue “doing my homework.”
