New Hampshire
Proposed change to land use law could empower immigration enforcement along NH-Canada border
For half a century, New Hampshire’s “current use” law has been a widely used and rarely controversial policy that lets landowners pay less in taxes in exchange for preserving open space, and in some cases, allowing the public to use their land for recreational uses.
But a little noticed proposed change to the statute pushed by the top Senate Republican this year would turn the current use statute into a new, untested immigration enforcement tool.
The bill, sponsored by Senate President Jeb Bradley, would permit landowners — including those who live along the state’s northern border with Canada — to post “no trespassing” signs with exceptions for recreational use. That would clear the way for suspected undocumented migrants to be potentially arrested by local law enforcement — rather than federal border patrol agents — for criminal trespassing.
The legislation was requested by Gov. Chris Sununu and Attorney General John Formella, according to Bradley. And while the proposed change would apply to more than a million acres of land in the state, it was prompted by the concerns of a small handful of residents in the town of Pittsburg who say they have seen migrants illegally entering New Hampshire by crossing a stream that serves as the border between the U.S. and Canada.
This effort to reshape immigration enforcement using a relatively obscure section of land taxation law comes at a time when questions are being raised about the extent of immigration pressures along New Hampshire’s international border. Civil liberties groups have obtained data showing scant interactionsbetween border agents and suspected migrants in New Hampshire in recent months. But State House Republicans have argued the problem is far larger than the numbers suggest, and that it is time for the state to step up its own enforcement efforts.
“In New Hampshire and in 49 other states, we have seen the results of open border policies, not only human trafficking, but the import of illegal substances, in particular fentanyl, flowing across our southern and our northern border,” said Bradley during a recent public hearing on the bill.
The measure would make a technical change to the state’s 50-year old current use law, which allows residents to put 10 or more acres of undeveloped land — including open fields, forest, and agricultural properties — into a special category for assessing property taxes. The program saves landowners money, but also encourages the preservation of open space.
Under the existing program, landowners can receive an additional tax deduction if they allow recreational use on the property by the public.
The bill now in the State House would apply to those landowners who grant the public access to their land: It would permit them to post a sign that reads “No Trespassing except for skiing, snowshoeing, fishing, hunting, hiking or nature observation” without jeopardizing their tax break.
Under that change, suspected migrants who cross the international border onto residential land marked with the new signs could be arrested for criminal trespassing, although it isn’t clear what would distinguish a migrant carrying a backpack and wearing boots from any other hiker who is permitted to walk on the land.
“I believe — and I hope that you, as members of the committee, believe — that protecting our northern border to prevent drug smuggling, human trafficking, and illegal entry into our state is important,” Bradley told members of the Senate Judiciary committee.
Some activists, however, are concerned the measure could lead to racial profiling.
“I look brown,” said Bruno D’Britto, an immigration attorney who leads the New Hampshire Brazilian Council and opposes the bill. “Someone sees me on their property with a backpack, they are going to think I’m crossing the border.”
D’Britto also noted that courts have generally ruled that immigration enforcement is the jurisdiction of the federal government and not the states.
“The states do have their sovereignty under the 10th Amendment, but this goes way beyond what the states can do,” he said. “Immigration has been allocated to the federal government.”
That hasn’t stopped some states, including Texas, from implementing its own immigration policies. There is currently a legal fight between officials in that state and the Biden Administration over the use of razor wire to ward off migrants.
Bradley, in an interview with NHPR, acknowledged the measure could face legal challenges if it becomes law.
“I think it’s the best public policy, and if it’s legally challenged, it’s legally challenged,” he said, adding “the Attorney General’s office will be able to defend it.”
Bradley noted that a lack of perceived action by the federal government gives states like New Hampshire “a legitimate issue in terms of protecting their own sovereignty and the public safety.”
Earlier this month, the head of the regional Border Patrol office in Vermont, Chief Patrol Agent Robert Garcia, said his agents had apprehended 3,310 migrants from 55 different countries since October, more than the previous four fiscal years combined. Those figures, however, were not broken down by state.
While Republicans in New Hampshire frequently describe a migrant “crisis” along the state’s approximately 58-mile border with Canada — a heavily forested and remote stretch of land with relatively few crossing points — data obtained by the ACLU of New Hampshire last month through a lawsuit against U.S. Customs and Border Protection showed just 21 suspected migrants were detained by federal agents in the state in the 15-month period between October 2022 and December 2023.
Residents of a remote road that runs alongside the international boundary in the town of Pittsburg have raised concerns to NHPR about migrants crossing their property. Top officials in the state, including Sununu and U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen, visited the area last year to meet with Border Patrol officials and local law enforcement, pledging more resources.
There were two high-profile arrests of suspected migrants in New Hampshire last summer, though it wasn’t clear in court paperwork precisely where the individuals crossed the international boundary. In both cases, the drivers of vehicles transporting the migrants were arrested and charged with human smuggling. No narcotics or guns were seized, according to court paperwork.
Those cases, along with earlier data released by a regional Border Patrol outpost showing a surge in encounters with migrants across parts of upstate New York and Vermont, prompted the state to divert $1.4 million to increased patrols in the region. That money was allocated in the state budget despite concerns from immigration activists that the stepped up law enforcement would inevitably lead to racial profiling. The new effort, called the Northern Border Alliance Task Force, was launched last October. It has yet to release initial data on the program, despite a Dec. 31 deadline to do so.
This isn’t the first time the question of using New Hampshire’s criminal trespassing laws to arrest and detain undocumented people has arisen. In 2005, the Monadnock-region town of New Ipswich found itself in national headlines after local police pursued criminal trespassingcharges against an undocumented construction worker. The man was initially arrested and charged with operating a motor vehicle without a license. But when ICE agents contacted by the town declined to take him into custody, New Ipswich Police Chief Garrett Chamberlain charged Jorge Mora Ramirez with a misdemeanor under New Hampshire’s trespassing law, even though Ramirez was not accused of wrongfully entering private property.
A district court judge ultimately dismissed the case, ruling local law enforcement had overstepped its authority by attempting to enforce federal immigration laws through other means.
Today, more than 3 million acres of land are currently enrolled in current use status, or 52% of the entire land area of the state. Of those protected lands, approximately half of that acreage is also open to the public for recreational use, according to data on the Department of Revenue Administration’s website.
Most of New Hampshire’s border with Canada is controlled by a single entity, Aurora Sustainable Lands, which has a conservation easement in place that prohibits placing ‘No Trespassing’ signs, according to Charles Levesque, president of the Statewide Program of Action to Conserve Our Environment, or SPACE, a group dedicated to protecting open lands through the current use law.
Another large stretch of borderland is controlled and managed by New Hampshire Fish and Game. Along an approximately 70-mile stretch of road in the western corner of the international boundary, where New Hampshire, Vermont and Canada meet, there are numerous parcels owned by private individuals, with some of those lands in current use with the recreational tax enhancement.
Levesque’s group is in favor of the proposed legislation, though not for its potential impact on those specific landowners or on illegal immigration. Rather, he said all landowners statewide who utilize the recreational bonus under current use need clarity on what type of signs they may be able to post, “because now the statute’s rather silent on that.”
But given the wildness of the terrain along the vast majority of the New Hampshire-Canada border, and the challenge in determining who is a legally permitted hiker or birdwatcher on private lands — versus who may be hiking but without proper paperwork to be in the country — it isn’t clear what impact the proposed legislation may ultimately have.
Levesque said he is doubtful the legislation will accomplish what lawmakers are hoping.
“They’re looking for ways to give local law enforcement the authority here,” he said. “And this is what they came up with. I don’t think it will be effective.”
New Hampshire
Opinion: The farm bill passed the House. Western New Hampshire got the bill. – Concord Monitor
In 1794, George Washington wrote that he knew of “no pursuit in which more zeal and important service can be rendered to any Country than by improving its agriculture.” Two hundred and thirty years later, the House just passed a farm bill that proves his successors stopped believing it.
Drive Route 12 through Walpole. Take Route 10 up through Haverhill. Cut across to Littleton, past the diner that has been feeding the town since 1930. The farms are there. Lush land that produces. People who work till their sweat and blood soak the ground they nurture. A region with every ingredient to feed itself.
What is not there is the processing facility that makes it worth raising the animal. The cold storage that keeps the crop from spoiling before it finds a buyer. The regional market that pays a price worth planting for. I want to believe Washington did not forget to build those things. Regardless, it built something else instead — a system that works beautifully for an operation running 10,000 acres in the Midwest and leaves the farmer on Route 12 doing the math at the kitchen table at midnight wondering if this is the last season.
And the 2026 Farm Bill just made that system more expensive to survive. Large commodity operations received a $54 billion subsidy increase over the next 10 years, with individual payment caps that can exceed $900,000 per operation. Is the farmer at your farmers market in position for this kind of payout?
The bill guarantees money, codified by law, for the people who need it least. Local food programs were reauthorized with zero mandatory funding, but plenty of empty words. They exist on paper and nowhere else. It means a farmer in Plainfield cannot count on them. It means Coos County, where one in seven people cannot reliably put food on the table, keeps waiting for help that has been promised and deferred so many times the promise itself has become an insult. Especially when supermarkets and superstores — just 15% of SNAP-accepting establishments — vacuum up nearly 74% of every food assistance dollar, while the local farm stand sees almost none of it.
And that is before the input costs.
Local farmers know this better than most. You buy fuel and fertilizer on global markets you have no vote in and no say over. Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, causing record high prices for fertilizers globally, all because Russia is the world’s top exporter and suddenly it wasn’t exporting. And while that news cycle is long buried, remember that the Iran war has closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which a third of the world’s seaborne fertilizer travels. Diesel recently crossed $5 a gallon, which large trucks that move food and tractors rely on. Fertilizer went from $500 a ton to $850. One tractor cost $350 more than it did last year. You did not start either of those wars, yet you pay for both of them. And that is not even accounting for the sharp sting of tariffs on the inputs you depend on to plant next season.
Chapter 12 farm bankruptcies rose 55% in 2024. Then another 46% in 2025, and those numbers only count the farms that qualified for Chapter 12, which requires the majority of family income to come from farming. The ones that don’t qualify quietly disappear, not even a balance sheet to mark the years of struggle, labor and community these farmers gave. They just stop. Since 2018, this country has lost more than 158,000 farms, with every size category shrinking except operations over a million dollars in annual revenue. Those are still growing, and will do so as long as the policy is written to grow them. Another example of an unlevel playing field where the rich get richer.
To be clear about something: large-scale agriculture feeds a lot of people and nobody sat in a room and decided to destroy the small farm. But does intent matter when these are the results? The system produces what it was designed to produce. That is exactly the problem. It was not designed with you in mind, and after enough years of that, the results look intentional even when they are not.
I got involved locally here because I believe western New Hampshire has everything it needs to feed itself and then some. Four thousand farms, nearly half a million acres, led by a direct-sales culture that leads the entire country. What is missing is not the land or the people or the will. What is missing is a representative who walks into bill negotiations fighting for the farmer on Route 12 instead of the operation collecting a $900,000 subsidy check in a state they have never visited, and pretending it actually helps their constituents.
I have a specific plan for how existing federal dollars already flowing into this district get redirected toward processing, storage and regional market access that actually serves the farms here. No new appropriations. No new programs. A full breakdown is at livefreenh02.com/food-independence.
Daniel Webster, born thirty miles from where I am writing this, put it in the Capitol: “The farmers, therefore, are the founders of human civilization.” Washington and Webster were not just statesmen. They farmed. They understood what was at stake when the land stopped producing for the people who worked it. The authors of the 2026 farm bill apparently do not.
Robbie Mahrou is an independent candidate for U.S. Congress in New Hampshire’s Second District and a Walpole resident. She can be reached out robbie@livefreenh02.com.
U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visited Concord on Friday to discuss a new health initiative to prevent and combat Lyme disease.
The visit was part of the “Take Back Your Health” campaign tour, a multimillion dollar initiative to promote dietary changes and exercise as preventative measures for chronic illness. Kennedy has been traveling the country to outline projects, including changing federal dietary guidelines, gut microbiome research, and addiction recovery.
Kennedy said his goal was to reduce Lyme disease by 25% by 2035.
Kennedy announced that over $2 million of federal funding will be up for grabs for projects focused on the prevention and treatment of Lyme disease. The grants, through a program called LymeX, will be available to businesses, scientists, and the public.
At the press conference Friday, Kennedy said the grants will go to projects including education tools and public awareness campaigns, front-line solutions like medication, and AI technology.
“This initiative will harness artificial intelligence and open data to help patients with Lyme disease and other invisible illnesses. Get answers faster and connect to care sooner,” he said.
Lyme in NH
New Hampshire has long been one of the epicenters for Lyme disease. The state has the seventh highest rate of Lyme disease in the country, according to the most recent data from 2023.
Read more: It’s tick season in New England. Here’s how to stay safe.
Tick season is a well-established time of year in New England, with an increase in cases and hospital visits in April and May. Research from Dartmouth shows half of adult blacklegged ticks in the Northeast carry the bacteria that causes Lyme disease.
In a health advisory issued on Wednesday, State Epidemiologist Benjamin Chan pointed out that Lyme disease is one of the most common infections spread through tick bites. Other tick-borne infections include anaplasmosis, babesiosis, and Powassan virus.
Lyme is also the most common tick-borne illness in America, with an estimated 476,000 people getting the disease each year nationwide, according to the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Service.
Kennedy’s record on Lyme disease
In the past, Kennedy has promoted a conspiracy theory that Lyme disease was bioengineered by the U.S. military. Late last year, he advocated for an investigation into a possible link between the military and the disease as part of a provision in a new defense bill, Scientific American and Politico reported.
Around that time, Kennedy said many patients’ claims were ignored, and he announced that “the gaslighting of Lyme patients is over.”
As an anti-vaccine activist, Kennedy launched a bid for the Democratic nomination for president in 2024. He then ran briefly as an independent before quitting and endorsing Donald Trump.
Trump later nominated him for health secretary, and he was confirmed by the Senate in early 2025 on a party-line vote.
Kennedy is the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, and a son of Robert F. Kennedy, who was slain during his campaign for president in 1968. In his own bid for the White House, RFK Jr.’s name was never on the ballot in New Hampshire. In mid-2024, a UNH Survey Center poll found he mustered only 3% support among likely voters.
More resources
What to do if you’ve been bitten by a tick: Step one, don’t panic.
Tick season: How not to get bit
Editor’s Note: This is the latest installment in a series honoring Seacoast veterans’ military service and the organizations who support veterans sponsored by Service Credit Union. It appears each Friday. Nominate a veteran you know to be profiled by clicking on this link or using the form below. More than 85,000 veterans live in New Hampshire, according to the state’s Department of Military Affairs and Veterans Services. Here are some of the many services available to veterans, their families, caregivers and supporters in the state.
New Hampshire Division of Veterans Services
This is the state’s starting point for veterans’ assistance. It can be reached by phone at 603-624-9230 or 800-622-9230, and online at nhveterans.nh.gov/veterans-services. On this site, you can find an important guide to services for veterans and their families. The N.H. Guide to Veterans’ Services is a PDF that can be viewed online or downloaded and printed out, and contains a plethora of important information about all aspects of a veterans’ life. https://www.nhveterans.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt401/files/inline-documents/2021-07/nhes-031320-vets-dir-guide-final.pdf
N.H. Department of Military Affairs and Veterans Services
New Hampshire’s Department of Military Affairs and Veterans Services (DMAVS) has mission to oversee and support the Service Members of the New Hampshire National Guard (NHNG) and to provide quality services to the state’s veterans and their families, according to its website. Call 603-225-1200 or find it online at https://www.nhveterans.nh.gov. There is a list of the state’s regional Veterans Services Officers and how to reach them or make an appointment at nhveterans.nh.gov/veterans-services/vsos-and-sites
Veterans Count
Veterans Count, a program of Easterseals NH Vets Count, provides mental health counseling, care coordination, housing stabilization, substance use treatment coordination, benefits and resources connection, and emergency financial assistance to all who have served in the military regardless of service era, discharge status or VA eligibility. The program connects veterans and their families with the help and resources they need confidentially. Email intake@vetscount.org or call 603-315-4354 or learn more at vetscount.org. The statewide Veterans Count program has four regional chapters. You can reach the Seacoast chapter at vetscount.org/chapters/seacoast. Vets Count presents local events and fundraisers like the upcoming Veterans Count Pack & Boots 5K Road Race on Sunday, July 5 from 8 to 11 a.m. beginning on Pierce Island in Portsmouth and ending in Prescott Park. Service members, veterans and community members are invited to participate in the fitness event designed for all ages and abilities, which will include a Survival Run-All, where runners carry a pack equal to 10% of their body weight; a Kids Fun Run 100-Meter Dash, and a 5K Road Race. Register at https://vetscount.org/events/veterans-count-pack-boots-5k-road-race/
Veterans Inc.
Veterans Inc. is the largest provider of support services to veterans and their families in New England. Email info@vertansinc.org, call 800-482-2565, sign up for its electronic newsletter and visit veteransinc.org.
Veterans Benefits Administration
A good source of information for the federal government’s veterans’ benefits and where you can search to locate a variety of local offices for federal services. Visit benefits.va.gov/benefits.
Pease ANGB Retiree Activities Office
The Retiree Activities Office at Pease provides information, services and programs to military retirees — all ranks, all services. Its mission is to act as an interface between the active-duty and retired communities; keep retirees updated on various matters; provide information and services as necessary or appropriate; and to represent retired members at the base and Air Force level, according to its website 157arw.ang.af.mil/About-Us/Retiree-Activities-Office/ where you can sign up for a periodic newsletter. The office has limited weekly hours so check its website for when it’s open or call 603-430-2636 and email peaseangb.rao@gmail.com.
Community-based Military Programs
The mission of the state’s Division of Community Based Military Programs is to collaborate, coordinate, and communicate with military and civilian provider groups to promote the delivery of quality health care services to New Hampshire veterans, service members and their families. Visit nhveterans.nh.gov/community-based-military-programs.
National Social Work Program local representatives
There is a social work leader in every VA health care system to help veterans get the care they need, according to the VA website, and connect them to the appropriate VA employee to assist them. New Hampshire’s social work leader is Kristin Maxwell. Contact Kristin. Maxwell@va.gov or call 603-624-4366. Visit socialwork.va.gov/Social_Work_Leaders.asp#NewHampshire.
Veterans Crisis Line
Veterans in crisis or someone who is concerned a veteran is in crisis can reach immediate help by dialing 988, then press 1. This is the National Suicide Hotline and by pressing 1, you’ll reach those specifically trained in veterans’ needs and resources. Veterans don’t need to be enrolled in VA benefit or health care to access this help, and it’s completely confidential. Free and available 24/7 every day. The Crisis Line can also be reached at its previous number, 800-273-8255, by text at 838255 and through chat at VeteransCrisisLine.net/Chat.
Veterans Councils
Many cities and towns in New Hampshire have a Veterans Council to assist its residents. An example is Rochester’s Veterans Council at rochesterveteranscouncil.com or
Veterans Groups and Meetings
Community meetings and socials are a great resource for veterans looking for information and help. The Rochester NH Veterans for Veterans (facebook.com/groups/1258228782144974) meets every Tuesday from 9 a.m. to noon at the Rochester Community Center and is sponsored by Rochester Recreation. All Veterans are welcome to attend the open discussions, which sometimes host a guest speaker from a veterans organizations to help members find resources. The Portsmouth Senior Activity Center hosts a Drop-In Veterans Social at 1 p.m. every Wednesday sponsored by the local Daughters of the American Revolution. All are welcome.
Assistance for veterans
There are many non-profits that provide a specific service to veterans. Some are:
Vouchers for Veterans
This non-profit, which was founded in Rochester, N.H., recognizes and thanks veterans for their service by providing voucher so they can purchase locally grown and prepared food directly from farmers and growers at local farmers markets. Visit vouchersforveterans.org or find them on Facebook at Vouchersforveterans.
Roofs For Veterans and Roof-A-Vet
Two non-profits will provide veterans with a new roof. Find more info at roofvets.com/roofs-for-veterans and roofavet.org. There are many organizations like these that will assist a veteran with home repairs or renovations.
Northeast Passage
Northeast Passage, based at the University of New Hampshire, provides adaptive sports and recreational opportunities for veteran and active-duty service members of all service eras and all ability levels. Many programs are free through funding from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, a partnership with Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, Operation Hat Trick and local organizations, according to its website. It offers veteran-specific events, group outings and competitive teams in sled hockey, wheelchair rugby, wheelchair lacrosse or power soccer. Visit nepassage.org/veteran-recreation.
University of New Hampshire Military and Veteran Services
UNH provides service and support to student veterans, service members and other military-affiliated students such as dependents. Contact Kalyn Ryll, director of military and veteran services, at Kalyn.Ryll@unh.edu or 603-862-3480.
Local VFW and American Legion posts
Find a local American Legion post at mylegion.org/PersonifyEbusiness/Find-a-Post. Find a Veterans of Foreign Wars post at vfw.org/find-a-post.
Elks programs for veterans
Many local Elks lodges have events or programs for veterans. The Elks have made a pledge “So long as there are veterans, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks will never forget them.” Its Elks National Veterans Service Commission helps local lodges provide services locally. The Portsmouth lodge is very active in helping veterans. Find more information at elks.org/vets/default.cfm?m=programs.
Service Credit Union thanks veterans for their military service and remembers all those service members currently deployed around the world. R.E.D. Friday stands for Remember Everyone Deployed on Fridays when some wear red to honor service members deployed worldwide.
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