{"id":5061985,"date":"2026-01-07T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rilatinonews.com\/?p=5061985"},"modified":"2026-01-07T07:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T12:00:00","slug":"new-england-deportation-response","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/riln\/2026\/01\/07\/new-england-deportation-response\/","title":{"rendered":"How are New England states responding to the federal deportation push?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Made with Flourish \u2022 Create a map<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Map: How mass deportation happens in New England<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Source: NENC reporting, Department of Justice<\/a> \u2022 DOJ designations were updated on Oct. 31. 2025.Roberto Scalese\/WBUR<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rhode Island<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In November 2025, the Providence City Council unanimously passed new immigration and policing reforms to the Community-Police Relations Act<\/a>, which restricts the Providence Police Department officers\u2019 ability to assist federal immigration enforcement. The federal Department of Homeland Security has also claimed that Rhode Island is defying national immigration policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RI\u2019s ACLU Executive Director Steven Brown said in an interview with Rhode Island Current<\/a>, the reasoning for the administration\u2019s attitude could be a 2014 federal court order. It ruled that police officers in Rhode Island cannot hold a person in custody based on just a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer for more than 48 hours. The state\u2019s Attorney General, Peter Neronha, has also taken part in multiple cross-state lawsuits against the administration\u2019s immigration policy reforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Massachusetts<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In Massachusetts, the state Supreme Judicial Court ruled<\/a> in 2017 that local law enforcement officers have no legal authority to arrest, detain or hold an individual based solely on a federal civil immigration detainer. Cities and towns such as Boston, Amherst, Cambridge, Chelsea, Concord, Newton, Northampton and Somerville have passed<\/a> local laws limiting their police departments\u2019 involvement in federal civil immigration enforcement. The Trump administration sued Boston<\/a> over its Trust Act in September and Boston has asked a judge to dismiss that lawsuit<\/a>. Similarly, sanctuary cities sued<\/a> the Trump administration for threatening to cut them off from federal funds in response to their stance on assisting civil immigration enforcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maine<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In Maine, the state legislature passed a bill<\/a> in June 2025 aimed at limiting how state and local law enforcement cooperate with federal immigration authorities. At the time, Gov. Janet Mills called the bill \u201coverly broad and confusing,\u201d and held it over until the next legislative session. But in December, Mills announced she would let the bill become law without her signature, saying that, while imperfect, it was one way to push back against what she calls \u201cICE\u2019s unacceptable actions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vermont<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

For years, Vermont law has required all law enforcement agencies to adopt a \u201cfair and impartial policing\u201d policy, which, among other things, prohibits Vermont police from enforcing civil immigration law. The policy bars state and local police from asking about a person\u2019s immigration status unless it\u2019s relevant to a criminal investigation. Vermont law enforcement officers are also limited in when they can share identifying information about a person, like their physical address or license plate information, with federal immigration authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the Trump administration has identified Vermont as a \u201csanctuary state,\u201d Gov. Phil Scott has rejected that label<\/a>, asserting that the state \u201cdoes not have any law or policy that impedes the enforcement of federal immigration law.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Connecticut<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Connecticut has had a statewide Trust Act in place since it was passed by lawmakers in 2013. It limits how local and state law enforcement interact with ICE authorities<\/a> by restricting information sharing between agencies, such as a person\u2019s immigration status. When President Trump returned to office in early 2025, advocates launched a campaign to strengthen the act. Lawmakers were considering a bill that would bring about even more limits in communication between Connecticut law enforcement and ICE authorities. It was heavily debated<\/a> and led to updates to the state\u2019s Trust Act in October<\/a>, placing those limitations on all state and municipal employees, as well as criminal prosecutors. People are now able to sue local municipalities and police departments in Connecticut for violating the Trust Act under the newest update to the law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a special legislative session this November, Connecticut lawmakers passed legislation that limits immigration arrests on courthouse grounds<\/a> without a signed judicial warrant. It also bars law enforcement officers from wearing face coverings in court without a medical need. The move comes after an uptick in ICE apprehensions around courthouses in Connecticut, including an arrest that took place inside a courthouse in Stamford<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Hampshire<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

New Hampshire is an outlier in the Democratic-controlled region and is following the legislative trends of Republican states in other parts of the country. The Republican-controlled State House passed two<\/a> laws in 2025 requiring local police departments to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. These had strong support from Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte, a former Attorney General with long-standing ties to law enforcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Hampshire was also part of a wave of Republican states that passed<\/a> legislation to invalidate certain out-of-state driver\u2019s licenses \u201cissued by another state exclusively to undocumented immigrants who are unable to prove lawful presence in the United States when the licenses are issued.\u201d In practice, this means that the law only invalidates this class of license in Delaware and Connecticut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ayotte has been vocal in her support for tougher immigration enforcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are the safest state in the nation. We\u2019re going to continue to be that, and this is a big step forward,\u201d she said in a bill signing ceremony<\/a>. \u201cThere will be no sanctuary cities in New Hampshire. Period. End of story.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Journalists at Maine Public, NHPR, Vermont Public, NEPM, WBUR, GBH, Connecticut Public and Ocean State Media contributed to this story. <\/em>How are New England states responding to the federal deportation push?<\/em><\/a>was originally published by Ocean State Media and is republished with permission.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Featured Photo:<\/strong> The Rhode Island State House in Providence, R.I. Raquel C. Zald\u00edvar\/New England News Collaborative<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Providence has tightened limits on police cooperation with ICE, drawing pushback from the Trump administration and placing Rhode Island at the center of a broader legal fight over immigration 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