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Police Reporting Of Unauthorized Immigrants Varies Dramatically Between N.H. Towns

Nashua Police Chief, Andrew Lavoie, says his officers never ask anyone's immigration status.
Emily Corwin for NHPR
Nashua Police Chief, Andrew Lavoie, says his officers never ask anyone's immigration status.
Nashua Police Chief, Andrew Lavoie, says his officers never ask anyone's immigration status.
Credit Emily Corwin for NHPR
Nashua Police Chief, Andrew Lavoie, says his officers never ask anyone's immigration status.

As immigration officials ramp up deportation of new classes of unauthorized immigrants, more residents and visitors without documents fear run-ins with police.

On New Hampshire's diverse Southern border, a traffic stop in one town could lead to very different consequences than the same kind of stop one town over.

In Salem, Police Captain Joel Dolan said any time his officers come across someone without a valid ID at a traffic stop, or in an arrest for any kind of crime, his department alerts Immigration officials. His officers are free to inquire peoples’ immigration status, as are officers next door in Pelham.

Fifteen miles away in Nashua, police chief Andrew Lavoie said his officers are trained never to ask anyone’s immigration status. “There’s no New Hampshire law that covers that,” he said, “why would we ask your status we can’t enforce that law?”

The Nashua Police will only contact federal immigration officials about offenders charged with felonies or violent misdemeanors, Lavoie said. “But again,” he added, “that’s only if we find out about it.”

If immigration officials have a warrant for someone in the country illegally, Lavoie said he will serve that warrant just like he would serve a warrant for another state.

Nashua is one of New Hampshire’s most diverse cities, with a sizable immigrant community. That may be one reason Lavoie chooses to leave immigration questions to the feds – while his colleagues in smaller, less diverse towns like Salem and Pelham – take a different path.

Still all of the officers NHPR spoke with agreed that victims and witnesses of crimes are safe, no matter their immigration status.

In Nashua, a refugee resettlement community, Lavoie said even immigrants with documents fear police. He emphasized that his job is to “protect everybody whether you’re here legally, or here illegally.” In Salem, Captain Dolan agreed, saying his department would never re-victimize someone who reports a crime.

Copyright 2021 New Hampshire Public Radio. To see more, visit New Hampshire Public Radio.

Emily Corwin reported investigative stories for VPR until August 2020. In 2019, Emily was part of a two-newsroom team which revealed that patterns of inadequate care at Vermont's eldercare facilities had led to indignities, injuries, and deaths. The consequent series, "Worse for Care," won a national Edward R. Murrow award for investigative reporting, and placed second for a 2019 IRE Award. Her work editing VPR's podcast JOLTED, about an averted school shooting, and reporting NHPR's podcast Supervision, about one man's transition home from prison, made her a finalist for a Livingston Award in 2019 and 2020. Emily was also a regular reporter and producer on Brave Little State, helping the podcast earn a National Edward R. Murrow Award for its work in 2020. When she's not working, she enjoys cross country skiing and biking.
Emily Corwin
Emily Corwin covers New Hampshire news, and reports on the state's criminal justice system. She's also one of eight dedicated reporters with the New England News Collaborative, a consortium of public media newsrooms across New England.
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