New Hampshire

NH House Democrats Demand ICE Accountability After Second Shooting Death in Minneapolis

Published

4 months ago

January 27, 2026

NH House Democrats Demand ICE Accountability After Second Shooting Death in Minneapolis

Alex Pretti, VA Image (official portrait by United States Department of Veterans Affairs)

CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE – House Democratic Leader Alexis Simpson, D-Exeter, called the shooting death Saturday of Alex Pretti by an ICE agent in Minneapolis a “tragic murder” as pressure mounts against the federal actions in Minneapolis.

“The brutal murder of Alex Pretti by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, just days after the brutal murder of Renee Good, is the latest example of an unaccountable federal agency using rapidly escalating and unjustified force to terrorize our communities. No one should fear being shot in the street by masked officers – anytime, anywhere,” Simpson said in a statement Monday.

Also on Monday evening, an estimated 90 people marched in a “Candlelight Procession for Alex Jeffrey Pretti and all ICE victims,” in Conway organized by the Mount Washington Valley Resistance.

Simpson said “bills now making their way through the state legislature require clear identification of state and local law enforcement officers participating in immigration enforcement activities and prohibit state resources from being used to construct ICE facilities or enable ICE’s abuses.

“These bills are simple – they demand transparency, accountability, and respect for our neighbors and communities. Granite Staters do not want masked federal agents roaming our streets. They want to feel safe in their neighborhoods, to know their tax dollars are being used appropriately, and to live under laws that reflect our ‘live free or die’ values,” she said.

“It is past time for Governor Ayotte and Republicans in Concord to put New Hampshire first, stop sitting on the sidelines, and stand with Granite Staters demanding accountability,” Simpson said.

The following bills in New Hampshire deal with immigration enforcement.

HB 1142, relative to requirements for law enforcement officers assisting in immigration enforcement. HEARING: Wednesday 1/28 at 3:30 pm in House Criminal Justice.

HB 1364, requiring quarterly reports from counties, municipalities, or any other political subdivisions of the state that enter into certain agreements with the federal government concerning assistance with federal immigration enforcement. HEARING: Friday, 1/30 at 11:30am in House Criminal Justice.

HB 1570, relative to governmental budget authority for agreements for law enforcement agencies to participate in federal immigration enforcement. Pending a vote on floor of House.

HB 1822, relative to reporting of civil immigration detentions by state, county, and local law enforcement and correctional facilities. Pending a vote on floor of House.

HB 1609, limiting the use of state, county, and municipal funds and property for construction and operation of certain immigrant detention facilities. Pending a vote on floor of House.

The Guardian newspaper reported Monday: “President says his administration is reviewing fatal shooting as Republicans and Democrats criticize ICE surge.”

And Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz posted on Facebook Monday that he “had a productive call with President Trump earlier today. I told him we need impartial investigations of the Minneapolis shootings involving federal agents, and that we need to reduce the number of federal agents in Minnesota.

“The President agreed to look into reducing the number of federal agents in Minnesota and to talk to DHS about ensuring the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is able to conduct an independent investigation, as would ordinarily be the case,” Walz said.

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New Hampshire

Firefighters Extinguish House Fire In Concord’s South End: Video

Published

10 minutes ago

May 24, 2026

Press Room

Firefighters Extinguish House Fire In Concord’s South End: Video

CONCORD, NH — Concord fire and rescue teams were sent to a house fire in the South End on Saturday afternoon.

Around 3:15 p.m., Concord Fire Alarm began receiving reports about smoke coming from a home on Brookside Drive. Engine 4 arrived first and confirmed smoke was coming from the building. About 10 minutes later, a firefighter stated the fire appeared to be coming from the basement.

News 603 posted videos on Facebook here:

And here:

A few minutes later, firefighters reported putting water on the fire.

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New Hampshire

Feds put ‘severely disruptive’ restrictions on applying for green cards

Published

12 hours ago

May 23, 2026

Press Room

Feds put ‘severely disruptive’ restrictions on applying for green cards

In a monumental shift in policy, the federal government plans to bar noncitizens from changing their immigration statuses except in extraordinary circumstances.

Local immigration attorneys say the move by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will impact thousands of people in the middle of the process and those planning to adjust their statuses in Massachusetts, and millions of foreign nationals nationwide. That includes students, temporary visa holders, and tourists, say attorneys.

Adjustment of status is when a noncitizen lawfully in the U.S. tries to switch to lawful permanent residence, known as a green card. It has been routine within the USCIS for decades. Adjustment of status has long allowed noncitizens to do so within the US without having to return to their country of origin.

“It’s extremely disruptive and is only going to further burden and complicate the system. It makes no sense,” said Robin Nice, a local immigration attorney.

Todd Pomerleau, a local attorney who has won cases before the Supreme Court, said that the USCIS “can’t eliminate statutory protections nor can it rewrite regulations while going through the proper channels. Otherwise, we’ll sue them in court.”

USCIS released a memo on Friday saying that the system has been abused. Specifically, the memo says the process that allows green card applicants to remain in the U.S. while applying was never intended to replace the system of applying for a visa from abroad. It instructs officers to treat adjustment of status applications as an exceptional, discretionary benefit, and that it is now “an extraordinary form of immigration relief.”

The agency says that even if applicants meet requirements for permanent residence when they’re about to apply in the US, they must leave the U.S. when their current visa ends, and wait for the State Department to process their case.

“It affects every person within the United States that is seeking adjustment of status. It affects students, it effects temporary protected status holders, it affects business visa holders,” said Annelise Araujo, a lawyer who runs an immigration practice in Boston.

Given the backlog of cases, attorneys say noncitizens will have to wait abroad for an indefinite period of time, and potentially be ineligible to return.

USCIS spokesman Zach Kahler said the change is about “returning to the original intent of the law.”

“This policy allows our immigration system to function as the law intended instead of incentivizing loopholes. When aliens apply from their home country, it reduces the need to find and remove those who decide to slip into the shadows and remain in the U.S. illegally after being denied residency,” he said in a statement. Kahler said nonimmigrants, like students, temporary workers, or people on tourist visas, come to the U.S. for a short time and for a specific purpose, and they must leave after.

Nice said the policy will drive immigrants “underground” and force them to pay thousands of extra dollars annually in renewing temporary statuses and work permits, since they won’t want to go abroad.

Araujo said the policy change will have a large impact on students. F-1 student visa holders can currently apply for green cards with limitations.

“They may change what their goals are, right? They may decide that they want to permanently stay after they’ve entered the United States and they may look for a job here. And that’s why adjustment of status exists,” she said.

Both Nice and Araujo said USCIS is wrong that this has previously been standard policy.

Araujo said the change will also impact people on work visas, like CEOs of multinational corporations, or on specialized visas, like an H-1B, a visa for foreign nationals with specialized knowledge in fields like technology, engineering, healthcare or finance.

“They can go from a non-immigrant intent, which was the intent they had at the time they applied to enter, to a immigrant intent after they’ve been in the United States,” she said. Noncitizens told they can’t have a path to a green card and work lawfully may start considering other countries.

Pomerleau recommended noncitizens thinking of adjusting their status or in the middle of it consult with an immigration attorney.

“This is just yet another sign of the government trying to make things difficult for people that are even able to follow the laws that Congress created,” said Pomerleau.

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