ICE Director: DHS Has Worked with Governor on Merrimack Facility. Ayotte: That’s Not True

UPDATED to include a second news release Gov. Kelly Ayotte issued at 6:30 p.m. saying after her office asked, DHS sent her the economic impact document about the Merrimack immigrant detention center mentioned at Thursday’s U.S. Senate committee hearing. Rep. Rosemarie Rung, D-Merrimack, reviewed the documents noting one talks about the economic impact to Oklahoma, not New Hampshire. “It’s appalling that ICE, a government agency funded with billions of taxpayer dollars, plays Granite Staters as fools by issuing documents that are clearly a cut and paste for a detention center in Oklahoma,” Rung said. (more details and links to the documents below.)

By NANCY WEST, InDepthNH.org

Todd Lyons, Acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Thursday that Department of Homeland Security officials spoke with Gov. Kelly Ayotte about the proposed immigrant detention center for Merrimack before she publicly acknowledged knowing about the plan, which she immediately denied in a news release.

Lyons said: “Actually DHS has worked with Gov. Ayotte, has spoken to the governor about economic impact. We did provide an economic impact summary…” Lyons said under questioning by U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., at a Senate committee hearing Thursday.

Hassan asked Lyons: “When exactly did you speak with Gov. Ayotte because until recently she said she didn’t know anything about it.”

Lyons said: “DHS officials, ma’am, spoke with her in the past weeks,” adding he will get more specific information about exactly when this occurred.

Ayotte said in a news release shortly after Lyons testified that it wasn’t true.

“Today, Governor Kelly Ayotte released the following statement regarding comments made during a U.S. Senate committee hearing by Acting Director Todd Lyons of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement:

“This is simply not true. Director Lyons’ comments today are another example of the troubling pattern of issues with this process. Officials from the Department of Homeland Security continue to provide zero details of their plans for Merrimack, never mind providing any reports or surveys.”

What Ayotte knew and when she knew about the secretive plan to house from 500 to 1,500 immigrants for deportation at a vacant warehouse at 50 Robert Milligan Parkway in Merrimack, has been controversial because she maintained she knew nothing of the plan even after reaching out to the Trump administration to get information.

The controversy cost Sarah Stewart her job as commissioner of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, because records made public by ACLU-NH Feb. 3 showed Stewart’s state agency was contacted by ICE in January seeking information about any potential historic value of the property and didn’t pass it on to Stewart or Ayotte. Ayotte asked for Stewart’s resignation after a public grilling before the Executive Council and she complied.

Ayotte had maintained she learned about the Merrimack plan on Feb. 3 when ACLU-NH announced the information they received after filing a right-to-know request.

UPDATE: Ayotte issued another news release, this one at 6:25 p.m. Thursday saying the Department of Homeland Security provided documents about the proposed Merrimack immigrant detention.

“After my office inquired about the economic impact study following today’s Senate hearing, DHS has now for the first time distributed the document. Once the document was received, we immediately shared it with the Town of Merrimack. We are publishing this document on my website for the public to find,” Ayotte said.

The Governor’s Office has published both documents received this afternoon:

DHS: ICE Detention Reengineering Initiative

DHS: Merrimack, NH Processing Site —Economic Impact Analysis

The economic impact analysis above talks about the impact to Oklahoma’s economy, raising questions about whether it was done for New Hampshire.

“Including all ripple effects to the Oklahoma economy, this facility will support a total of 1,252 jobs during retrofit and up to 265 jobs each year of operation,” the DHS economic impact analysis for the Merrimack detention center said.

Rep. Rosemarie Rung, D-Merrimack, said: “It’s appalling that ICE, a government agency funded with billions of taxpayer dollars, plays Granite Staters as fools by issuing documents that are clearly a cut and paste for a detention center in Oklahoma. They should be disqualified from any operation in NH and I expect the Governor should immediately tell them so.

“Gov. Ayotte has betrayed the citizens of Merrimack by selling us out to the Trump regime and leading us on. What a shameful legacy she is creating.”

Rep. Wendy Thomas, D-Merrimack, said: “I strongly support Senator Hassan’s leadership in demanding transparency and accountability regarding the proposed ICE facility in Merrimack. Granite Staters deserve clear and open communication from both federal and state officials when decisions of this magnitude are being considered.”