ICE scraps plans for N.H. detention center, Ayotte says

The Trump administration is no longer moving forward with a plan to create a large detention facility in Merrimack, New Hampshire. 

Gov. Kelly Ayotte, who recently returned from the nation’s capital, made the announcement Tuesday morning. 

“During my trip to Washington last week, I had productive discussions with Secretary Kristi Noem, and I’m pleased to announce that the Department of Homeland Security will not move forward with the proposed ICE facility in Merrimack,” she said in a statement.

In recent weeks, news of the facility prompted pushback from local officials, including even some Republican lawmakers. It also sparked confusion and led to a forced resignation within Ayotte’s administration. 

In December, The Washington Post broke news that the Trump administration was attempting to renovate industrial warehouses across the country to hold tens of thousands of detainees amid its mass deportation campaign. Warehouses in at least 20 communities across the U.S. have been targeted, including in Merrimack.

Details of the planned facility were made public when the ACLU of New Hampshire published documents about it earlier this month. Those documents revealed communications between DHS and the New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources. Ayotte, who denied knowledge about the facility, demanded the resignation of the official who led the state agency that oversees DHR. That official took “full responsibility” for failing to inform Ayotte. 

Then Todd Lyons, acting director of ICE, said during a Senate hearing that the agency had spoken with Ayotte about the planned detention center. Ayotte released a statement saying that Lyons was not telling the truth. She decried a “troubling pattern of issues” with the process and said that DHS officials were not providing any details to her about the plans. 

DHS responded by sending documents about the planned facility to Ayotte’s office, which published them. 

Town officials said that they were left in the dark until earlier this month. In responding to documents from DHS about the economic impacts of the proposed facility, Merrimack Town Manager Paul Micali said that there were numerous inaccuracies. Micali requested that someone from either DHS or Ayotte’s office engage in conversations with him and town officials about the potential impacts. 

“The use of this inaccurate information certainly demonstrates that there was little consideration of focusing on Merrimack and our needs,” he wrote in a message to the governor’s office and officials in Washington. 

Micali did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday. 

The detention center was being planned for a property at 50 Robert Milligan Parkway. An existing 43-acre “warehouse property” would have been retrofitted to become a detention center for as many as 600 people, according to the documents released by the ACLU and Ayotte’s office. Plans called for the installation of cafeterias, bathrooms, health care spaces, and “tentage and a guard shack.”

The warehouse would have been one part of ICE’s larger “Detention Reengineering Initiative.” Officials within the agency are looking to overhaul its “detention model” in order to accommodate “the growing demand for bedspace” and streamline the deportation process. This involves the purchase and renovation of at least eight large-scale detention centers and 16 smaller processing sites around the country. The facilities are being designed to accommodate both “immediate surge capacity” and “sustained longterm operations.” The initiative is estimated to cost $38.3 billion, and officials are hoping to complete it by the end of Fiscal Year 2026, according to the documents. 

Ayotte said that she relayed the concerns of local officials to Noem, which ultimately led to the Merrimack project’s demise. 

“I thank Secretary Noem for hearing the concerns of the Town of Merrimack and for the continued cooperation between DHS and New Hampshire law enforcement to secure our northern border, keep dangerous criminals off our streets, and ensure our communities are safe,” Ayotte said. 

Noem issued a statement thanking Ayotte. 

“I appreciated my discussions with Governor Ayotte last week,” Noem said. “From banning sanctuary cities to strengthening law enforcement cooperation, New Hampshire has been a strong partner in securing our country, and we look forward to continuing our work together.”

As news of the planned detention center grew, so too did the angry backlash. Some 1,500 people gathered at Merrimack Town Hall over the weekend to protest the plan. The congressional delegation from New Hampshire introduced legislation this week that would require DHS to gather public comments and receive written approval from state and local officials before constructing any new ICE detention centers. 

Some local Republicans also voiced their displeasure with DHS. State Sen. Tim McGough repeatedly called for more information from the Trump administration as reports of the facility plans trickled out. After news that the project was being scrapped broke on Tuesday, McGough praised Ayotte’s leadership and said that she displayed “courage” throughout the process.

State Rep. Bill Boyd, another Republican, sent a letter to Noem earlier this month. Despite supporting the Trump administration’s enforcement of immigration law, Boyd urged Noem to reassess the project. The project would have raised “significant feasibility and infrastructure challenges,” Boyd wrote. He worried that converting the warehouse into an ICE facility would stifle economic growth, according to the letter, which was obtained by WMUR. Any plan like this should incorporate a “vigorous public process,” he wrote. 

The saga prompted sparring between Ayotte and Gov. Maura Healey, who called on Ayotte to do everything in her power to block the construction of a new detention center. Healey responded to news of the project’s cancellation Tuesday with one word: “good.”