Immigrations and Customs Enforcement plans to hold immigrants at a federal prison in New Hampshire, according to a leaked document. The news comes as the Trump administration pushes to drastically increase immigration arrests nationally.
The memo says the prison in Berlin, New Hampshire will need additional funding and time to prepare. It does not specify a timeline or how many people would be held there.
But Anna Welch, with the University of Maine School of Law, said the prison could hold as many as 700 people in ICE custody. Welch said she's concerned that people arrested in Maine could eventually be sent there.
"I think this is just part of a broader strategy of removing people from their local communities, removing them from where they're from, where they might have access to legal counsel, into more remote settings," she said.
At the same time, at least one Maine facility that houses people for ICE is running low on beds for federal agencies.
Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce said there were 79 people in ICE custody at the county jail as of Friday.
"Those numbers make me concerned that we're getting close to capacity," Joyce said.
Some of those being held at the Cumberland County Jail were arrested in other states.
The American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire is filing a Freedom of Information Act request relating to ICE's plans for the Berlin prison.
