Trump administration scraps planned ICE facility in New Hampshire, Ayotte says

The federal government has abandoned plans to build an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in New Hampshire, GOP Gov. Kelly Ayotte announced in a social media post Tuesday.

The announcement is a major victory for Ayotte, who pleaded her case in conversations with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem last week.

“I thank her 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 wrote on X.

The move comes with President Donald Trump increasingly under fire for his heavy-handed approach to immigration — and as some Republicans urge the White House to change tactics amid public backlash.

Several Republicans, though broadly supportive of the president’s deportation push, have spoken out against efforts to open immigration detention centers in their home states. In early February, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) wrote a letter to Noem, urging ICE to stop the development of a processing facility in the town of Byhalia, Mississippi.

Such a development, he wrote, “forecloses economic growth opportunities and replaces them with a use that does not generate comparable economic returns or community benefits.“

The White House had previously rebuffed the concerns of Republicans who did not want ICE facilities in their states or districts.

In a press briefing last week, press secretary Karoline Leavitt, a native of New Hampshire, called construction of the planned facility “an unfortunate consequence of the previous administration’s border invasion.”

“Obviously there are a lot more illegal alien criminals left in our homeland,” she told reporters. “That includes in New England. There are many within our communities in New Hampshire, in Maine and definitely in Massachusetts and in the Boston suburbs, that need to be arrested, detained and deported back to their home countries.”

ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the reasons behind its pullback. In a press release distributed by Ayotte’s office, Noem praised the state as a “strong partner.”

“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.”