This case is about whether local and state officials who hold undocumented immigrants on "ICE detainers" are in violation of New Hampshire law. New Hampshire law sets out officers’ arrest and detention authority in great detail, but nowhere does it provide any authority to hold people pursuant to a federal civil immigration detainer. As a result, we argue in this case that the Court must declare as unlawful the Hillsborough County Department of Corrections’ detention of Mr. Pepen pursuant to a federal immigration detainer. A growing consensus of courts (including in Massachusetts, New York, Colorado, and Florida) have ruled that state arrest laws like New Hampshire’s do not authorize local officers to hold people based on detention requests or administrative warrants issued by ICE.
This case resolved in February 2020.
