Ayotte blocks ICE — but she had a lot of help from protesters, looming midterms, and a NIMBY GOP

By: Dana Wormald

Outlets: NH Bulletin

Published: February 25, 2026

Words: 969

Last Updated: 2 weeks, 1 day ago

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You’ve got to hand it to New Hampshire Republicans. Sure, their platform is largely shaped by an aversion to established science and fanciful budget math, with a touch of bigotry and paranoia, but they are really good at selling “I meant to do that” when they trip up.

Take the recently halted plan for an immigrant detention center in Merrimack.

A few weeks ago, it seemed clear that Gov. Kelly Ayotte was …

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