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The New Hampshire State Police applied to be deputized with the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, which, if approved, will allow officers to question, detain, and arrest individuals based on their immigration status.
“It is critical for state and local law enforcement to cooperate with federal authorities and protect our citizens,” New Hampshire Governor Kelly Ayotte said in a statement. “Criminals who are in our country illegally and pose a danger should be apprehended and removed.”
The New Hampshire State Police and Gorham Police Department are two of 32 pending program applications to work with ICE through section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
287(g) allows ICE “to delegate to state and local law enforcement officers the authority to perform specified immigration officer functions under the agency’s direction and oversight.” Agencies, like sheriff’s offices or department of corrections, can apply for one of three types of support, including jail enforcement model or a warrant service officer program.
New Hampshire State Police and Gorham’s department both applied for a task force model, according to a list of pending agencies released by ICE Thursday morning.
The task force model is a “force multiplier,” allowing police to enforce “limited” immigration authority, including arrests and questioning individuals about their immigration status, during routine police duties, according to ICE. The model was discontinued in 2012 during the Obama administration due to allegations of racial profiling.
“We are pleased to see that the federal government is interested in reinstating the task force model, which would grant both legal authority and protection to our State Troopers when they encounter individuals in the United States illegally,” New Hampshire Department of Safety Commissioner Robert Quinn said in a statement.
Previously, then-Governor Christopher Sununu petitioned the Department of Homeland Security for local officials to aid in patrolling the northern border through Section 287(g). At the time, the ACLU of New Hampshire also told DHS that, despite Sununu’s assertion, there was not a crisis at the Canadian border.
“We are particularly concerned because the State Police, the state’s largest law enforcement agency, has a history of engaging in pretextual police stops where questions of racial bias have been raised,” the ACLU wrote. “These incidents give us grave concern about how the State Police will operate if given the expanded powers it is requesting.”
While not listed in ICE’s list of pending agencies, Belknap County Sheriff Bill Wright said his office has also applied to enter a 287(g) agreement.
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Streets of Portsmouth after snow storm
The streets of Portsmouth are still in the process of being cleaned up, as seen the afternoon of Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026, following a huge snow storm.
It may be March, but winter in New Hampshire is far from over. Just one week after a blizzard tore through the state with heavy snow and high winds, the state is getting another round of snowfall.
The state will get three to five inches during the evening and night of Tuesday, March 3, says the National Weather Service (NWS) of Gray, Maine. While the accumulation will not be significant, the snowfall may cause dangerous road conditions and a layer of ice on the ground in certain parts of the state.
Here’s what to know before tonight’s snow in New Hampshire, including snow totals and timing.
According to the NWS, it will start snowing in New Hampshire during mid-afternoon or early evening and continue through the night. Specifically, snow will arrive to the southern part of the state around 2-3 p.m., spreading northwards through the rest of New Hampshire by 5 p.m.
Rain or freezing rain will mix in later this evening across southern New Hampshire, creating a wintry mix. All precipitation should move out of the state by midnight.
Due to the timing of today’s snowfall, the Tuesday evening commute will be affected, with the NWS warning to slow down and exercise caution while driving.
New Hampshire will get one to four inches of snow tonight, with one to two inches in northern New Hampshire, two to three inches in southern New Hampshire and three to four inches in the center of the state, with the possibility for five inches in localized areas.
In the Seacoast specifically, Portsmouth, Rye, Hampton and York are expected to get between two to three inches of snow, while Dover, Exeter and Rochester may get up to four.
The wintry mix may also cause a light glaze of ice across southern New Hampshire.
The NWS has issued a winter weather advisory for the state of New Hampshire, in effect from 1 p.m. on Tuesday, March 3 through 4 a.m. on Wednesday, March 4.
New Hampshire’s employment law landscape heading into 2026 may not be dramatically different from last year, but the real risks lie in implementation missteps. From the initial setting of wages, to calculating and distributing wages, employers will likely find a specific statute and/or labor regulation governing the transaction. Failure to follow these detailed wage and hour laws can result in significant back wages and other penalties being imposed by the state or federal Department of Labor following an audit. Fortunately, however, this area of employment law is relatively easy to master, once you are familiar with the basics.
Notice compliance
One of the most common pitfalls for employers in New Hampshire is misunderstanding the wage and hour notice requirements under RSA 275 and the related New Hampshire Department of Labor Administrative Rules.
At the time of hire, employers must notify employees in writing of their rate of pay and the day and place of payment. This notice is traditionally delivered to employees by way of an offer letter or some sort of “New Hire Rate of Pay” form. (A sample form is available from the New Hampshire Department of Labor website.) What surprises most employers, however, is that Lab. 803.03(f)(6) also requires employers to request and obtain their employees’ signatures on this written notification of wages, and employers must keep a copy of the signed written notification of wages on file. Further, employers must notify employees in writing during the course of employment of any changes to wages or day of pay prior to such changes taking effect, and the employer must obtain the employee’s signature on this subsequent notification as well. (See RSA 275:49; Lab. 803.03.)
Employers are further required to notify employees in writing, or through a posted notice maintained in a place accessible to employees, of:
• employment practices and policies with regard to vacation pay, sick leave and other fringe benefits.
• deductions made from the employee’s payroll check, for each period such deductions are made.
• information regarding the deductions allowed from wage payments under state law. (RSA 275:49; Lab. 803.03.)
Policies regarding vacation and sick leave should inform employees whether or not the employer will “cash out” unused time at year end or at the end of employment, and if so, under what terms. Again, if any changes are made to vacation pay, sick leave and other fringe benefits during the course of employment (all of which are considered “wages” under New Hampshire law), employers must request and obtain their employees’ signatures on the written notification of the change, and must keep a copy of the signed form on file. (Lab. 803.03.) Importantly, notification by way of pay stub alone is not sufficient, and, these requirements apply to both increases and decreases in pay.
Two-hour minimum (reporting pay)
Another frequently overlooked obligation is New Hampshire’s two-hour minimum reporting pay requirement. Under RSA 275:43-a, non-exempt employees who report to work but are sent home early must generally be paid for at least two hours. Weather-related closures, client cancellations or operational slowdown days can trigger this rule. Employers should also note that the New Hampshire Department of Labor currently applies this law to remote-based employees. Consequently, employees who “report to work” at an employer’s request from a home office may likewise have a right to two hours of pay, depending on the circumstances.
Salaried vs. hourly employees
Misclassification of employees as exempt from overtime remains a significant source of compliance exposure. The position’s job duties — not the titles or label such as “salaried” — determine whether an employee qualifies for an overtime exemption.
Employers, particularly in nonprofits, health care and small businesses, unintentionally misapply exempt classifications to roles such as administrative staff, office managers, executive assistants, program coordinators or hybrid jobs that involve significant non-exempt tasks. Over time, as organizational needs evolve and employees take on broader responsibilities, job duties can drift outside of an exemption’s scope.
Best practice is to periodically review job descriptions and actual job duties to ensure continued compliance with exemption criteria, particularly following any significant restructuring or job redesigns.
Peg O’Brien is chair of McLane Middleton’s Employment Law Practice Group. She can be reached at margaret.o’brien@mclane.com.
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