ICE is not a broken agency that needs fixing. It is an agency whose design produces the outcomes we are now witnessing. When an institution is built to enforce a broken system without due process protections, without meaningful accountability, and with a culture that has consistently shielded agents from consequences for misconduct and killing, reform is insufficient. The institution must be replaced.

Abolishing ICE means replacing a failed institution with one that is built from the ground up with civil rights protections, democratic accountability, and a mission that’s oriented toward a functional immigration system rather than fear and punishment.

I am hoping that our town will come together today to affirm that our community does not want to collaborate with the Trump Administration in its unlawful and immoral immigration crackdown here in Hampton.

Good riddance.

This victory shows the power of a mobilized and unified community that not only opposes the reprehensible actions of ICE and DHS, but also envisions and fights for a more just immigration system.

The clock is ticking. The longer politicians in Washington wait to fix our broken immigration system and force ICE, CBP, and Kristi Noem to face real accountability, the more emboldened DHS becomes in its efforts to trample over our rights and terrorize innocent people.

After months of persistent advocacy, activists succeeded in swaying the crucial swing vote on the Rockingham Board of Commissioners against signing a contract to use the county jail to house ICE detainees. The effort brought together faith leaders, state elected officials, seasoned activists, and outraged Rockingham residents who showed up, week after week, to oppose an immoral and fiscally irresponsible agreement that would have exposed the county to future liability when ICE is held accountable for their cruelty and many abuses.

This is state-sanctioned violence and it has no place in New Hampshire.

Hundreds showed up at the Rockingham County Commissioners meeting on Thursday to speak out against a proposed contract with ICE to use the county jail to house immigrants detained by ICE. Meanwhile, 75 miles from Rockingham County, in Maine, ICE agents recently detained a Cumberland County Corrections recruit. They literally yanked him out of his car and left it running in the street. Incidents like this are happening all across the country as ICE terrorizes entire communities, tramples on our rights, and kills people.

The morning after watching Alex Pretti die, I woke up heavy with grief—the emotional hangover that follows witnessing injustice layered on top of old wounds. Then I read a public statement by Carleigh Beriont, a New Hampshire leader and congressional candidate. It was titled simply: This Is Wrong.

For the first time in a long while, I took a deep breath.