Why This Matters

In 2025, ICE’s New Hampshire strategy included adding roughly 221 new detention beds through Intergovernmental Service Agreements (IGSAs) with three county jails — Hillsborough, Rockingham, and Merrimack counties — on top of Strafford County’s existing contract and the FCI Berlin federal expansion. By spring 2026, all three of those new county-jail bed plans had been halted by local opposition, including defections by Republican county officials. This is a concrete, county-level rollback of the detention buildout, and it happened in a swing state that holds the first presidential primary. It connects directly to the broader plan exposed by Gov. Ayotte’s document release — see national-detention-buildout-strategy-2026.

Rockingham County (Brentwood) — Tabled Indefinitely

Rockingham County commissioners had applied to host up to 150 adult male ICE detainees at the county jail in Brentwood (FIPS 33015), with ICE paying an estimated $150/day per detainee.

• Feb 5-6, 2026: Commissioners tabled the ICE contract indefinitely on a 2-1 vote.
• The swing vote: Republican Commissioner Thomas Tombarello (Sandown) moved to table, joined by Democrat Kathryn Coyle (Portsmouth); Republican Steven Goddu (Salem) voted to continue negotiations.
• Reasons cited by Tombarello: the resignation of jail Superintendent Jason Henry (announced during the meeting); broad “uncertainty” since the process began ~a year earlier; and concern that “some medical bills to hospitals have either been delayed or not paid,” threatening local medical facilities financially.

Hillsborough County (Valley Street Jail, Manchester)

The Hillsborough County House of Corrections / Valley Street Jail in Manchester (FIPS 33011, ~730-bed capacity, ~324 inmates) was also eyed for ICE detainees.

• Superintendent Joseph Costanzo budgeted $734,781 in contingency funds in the FY2026 proposed budget to cover a possible ICE agreement (described as “cost neutral” — ICE would reimburse).
• The Hillsborough County delegation voted down the contingency funding after dozens of residents turned out in opposition (“Don’t take our neighbors”).
• Commissioners (Mike Soucy, Toni Pappas, Robert Rowe) stated as of Sept 2025 that no ICE housing contract had been presented or considered by the board, while acknowledging informal ICE inquiries.
• The county sheriff has separately signed a 287(g) enforcement contract (distinct from a detention-housing IGSA).

The 48-Hour Mandate Backstop

Even without housing contracts, NH law now forces local cooperation: HB 511 and SB 62 (signed May 2025, effective Jan 1, 2026) require county jails to hold ICE detainees for up to 48 hours without a contract. So the rejected IGSAs do not fully insulate these counties from ICE use.

Pattern Recognition

The Rockingham defection mirrors the budget-dependency-vs-conscience dynamic seen at Strafford (strafford-nh-ice-contract-fight), but in reverse: a county that had not yet become revenue-dependent was able to walk away. The unpaid-medical-bills concern is a recurring fiscal red flag in ICE IGSA fights nationally (cf. Broward FL, Bergen NJ). The Republican-led tabling shows opposition is not purely partisan in NH.

Sources

• Rockingham County tables ICE detainee jail deal indefinitely — NHPR (Feb 6, 2026)
• ICE detainees not coming to Rockingham County jail in Brentwood — Union Leader
• Will Rockingham County jail take ICE deal? One Republican may vote no — NHPR (Jan 22, 2026)
• Officials: No definitive plans for ICE detainees at Manchester jail — Union Leader
• Hillsborough County officials: No ICE detainees at Manchester’s Valley Street Jail — NHPR (Sep 18, 2025)
• ‘Don’t take our neighbors’: Public voices opposition to Hillsborough County’s affiliation with ICE — Manchester Ink Link