House Democrats join Republicans in the adoption

Parliament almost unanimously adopted a bill to ban “Sanctuary City” policies in the state on Thursday after Democrats sit with Republicans to promote a version they claim is less drastic.

House Bill 511 Passed, 351-6, without discussion from both sides. Six Democrats voted no.

Republicans were excited. “Today, House Republicans voted resounding and unanimously to ban dangerous and lawless sanctuaries and to prevent our schools from being used as housing for illegal foreigners,” said majority leader Jason Osborne, in a statement published after the vote. “Our attitude is clear: We will not let our society be exceeded by an invasion of illegal foreigners.”

Democrats who are largely against anti-Sanctuary city bills did not release a statement. Many democratic representatives refused to answer questions about the vote. But some said they had voted for HB 511 because the latest changed version diminished its impact and is preferred rather than a stricter alternative.

The bill states that “no State Government Unit, Local Government Unit or Law Enforcement Unit must deliberately adopt, issue, adopt, promote, enforce, allow, maintain or in fact any sanctity policy.”

The Sanctuary policies are defined as laws or policies that prohibit or prevent law enforcement authorities from cooperating or communicating with a federal immigration agency – and which inhibit police officers compliance with federal immigration laws.

The Bill allows the State Attorney to submit a lawsuit against any location that carries out these policies.

It is not clear how many cities and cities have such policies; Two examples are Lebanon and Hannover, both of whom adopted “inviting ordinances.”

Republicans have claimed that policies are calling on undocumented people to move to these cities, knowing that they are less likely to be transferred to federal authorities such as immigration and customs enforcement (ICE).

House Democrats say they are generally against the laws. But they have supported a change in this bill added by House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee. This change states that unless otherwise approved by law, New Hampshire Law enforcement is excluded from investigating or participating in investigations of citizenship for one they arrest. These studies may only be performed by IS or other federal agencies, it states.

“The voting on HB 511 was an injury reduction measure,” Rep wrote. David Meuse, a Portsmouth Democrat, in a 26th January Facebook post. “As amended, the bill has support from immigrant Rights Network here in New Hampshire. Since Republicans may have had the votes to adopt this legislation that was not unattended, Democrats worked hard and worked together to try to mitigate and minimize his potential damage. “

Rep. Alissandra Murray, a Manchester -Democrat, agreed that Democrats’ participation was intended to return the legislation. Murray said the amendment had come out of Bipartisan negotiations with rep. Terry Roy, chairman of the House Criminal Justice Committee.

“We fully agree that people who commit crimes in our society should not be continuous just off and not see the consequences of their actions,” Murray said in an interview. “But we also believe that it is important for law enforcement to maintain the confidence they have with the immigrant communities, which requires that they do not have to be forced to detain every single person they encounter who may have an ice cream.”

By adding protective frames that restrict police from proactively intervening by reporting people to IS, Murray claimed that the bill would prevent law enforcement from being deputy against law -abiding people. Instead, police departments should only contact ICE in cases where they arrested a person and noticed that ICE had marked the person with a recurring request.

The Bipartisan negotiation of the bill repeats earlier cases where Murray and Roy have worked together on the criminal committee on behalf of their parties. By 2024, the two helped manage a bill for bail reform through the criminal committee and eventually with government conference Chris Sununus desk, that signed it in August. The Republican Government Kelly Ayotte, who opposes the 2018 legislation, which tried to reduce bail relations, has been critical of the compromise proposal in 2024 and is pushing for further legislation to limit bail this year.

“In the Public Security Committee for Criminal Justice, we have a Track Record to do strong top -notch work together,” Murray said on Thursday. “It really is our priority as a committee: the adoption of legislation that can stand the test of the time and meet the needs of our voters without falling prey for national voice points.”

But the HB 511 may not be the last word on anti-Sanctuary law this year. The Senate adopted its own bill, Senate’s Bill 71seam Ban’s sanctuary urban policies But does not include protective frames that limit law enforcement from working with ICE. This bill will be taken up by the house in the coming months.

Meanwhile, HB 511 has not yet left the house; It goes next to the House Finance Committee and will have to adopt a vote more on the house bond before it can go over to the Senate. It leaves more opportunities for the bill to change again.

Ayotte was partly ran by tightening New Hampshire’s immigration legislation and repeatedly proclaimed her support to ban Sanctuary Cities during her 2024 campaign. With Republican majorities in parliament and the Senate, legislation is likely to adopt both legislative chambers. But it is less obvious what form the final bill can take.

Unlike the house Democrats, the Senate Democrats have been unequivocally opposed. At a press conference, Senator Suzanne Prentiss, a Lebanon democrat, pressed her city’s ordinance, which prevents law enforcement from acting on ice trapping unless the person has been charged with a crime. And she spoke against the Senate version of the bill.

“I don’t support it,” she said. “I think we are in conflict with civilians and criminals.”

“… If you are arrested and you are, you have a criminal act, then that’s one thing,” she said. “But if you are in our community and are working to become a citizen, we will not target you to you and do the ice cream job.”