On Feb. 12, New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte released two documents confirming that a U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement processing site will be built at the site of an unused industrial warehouse in Merrimack, N.H. The release follows months of speculation by state residents after the Washington Post reported leaked Department of Homeland Security documents that included plans for the site in December.
The building — located at 50 Robert Milligan Parkway — will cost $158 million to repair and convert, according to an economic impact analysis written by DHS and released by Ayotte’s office on Thursday.
The Department of Homeland Security intends to use this facility as part of “ICE’s long-term detention solution,” according to the “ICE Detention Reengineering Initiative” document also released by Ayotte. The 400,000 square foot Merrimack site will have a “projected bed capacity” of 400 to 600 people.
In the document, DHS labels the project as a “processing site,” in which individuals will be detained for three to seven days before being transferred to larger detention centers across the country.
“ICE conducted a thorough due diligence process prior to purchasing each facility … including thorough site inspections, analysis of utility services and testing and inspection of mechanical and electrical systems,” the document reads.
Some officials, such as Merrimack town manager Paul Micali, oppose the development of the site. In an email statement to The Dartmouth, Micali wrote that the development would result in increased taxes for Merrimack citizens.
“The town will lose $529,000 worth of tax revenue,” Micali wrote. “This will lead to an increase in tax rates for our citizens.”
In a Jan. 23 letter to Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem, the Merrimack Town Council wrote that if the processing center is constructed, “potential difficulties and civil protest” would “necessitate” a Merrimack’s Police and Fire/Rescue Department service presence at the site.
“There is potential financial impact upon those departments and their budgets,” they wrote. “As a result, this Town Council is against the establishment of an ICE processing center based upon the aforementioned financial impacts and concerns to our budget.”
State Sen. Dan Innis, R-7, questioned the choice to place an ICE facility in Merrimack. In an interview with The Dartmouth, he said that the town “generally seems to be opposed to it.”
“The idea, of course, is to get criminals off the streets and send them back home,” Innis said. “I think we need to encourage the federal government to maybe step back, take another look at our state and ask themselves if there is a better location.”
In the “Economic Impact Analysis” document, the department estimated that the facility will cost $146 million to operate within the first three years of opening. DHS claims that the proposed site would “support a total of 265” new jobs in the region, and generate approximately “$10.7 million in local, state and sales tax revenue.”
Innis said the economic analysis was full of “boilerplate” language, citing its mention of sales tax income, which the state of New Hampshire does not collect. The first version of the document, published by Ayotte’s office, also mistakenly mentions the site’s “effects to the Oklahoma economy.” Oklahoma City, Okla., was originally a proposed processing site, but the project was ultimately scrapped in late January. According to the New Hampshire Bulletin, Governor Ayotte’s office removed and replaced the document which referenced Oklahoma on Friday.
“This [document] is the template they use everywhere, because Oklahoma is mentioned, and they talk about sales tax and income tax revenue,” Innis said. “Well, we don’t have sales tax or income tax revenue.”
