8 ICE arrest warrants served in Lakes Region since April
By Bob Martin, The Laconia Daily Sun
Published March 6, 2026. Updated March 8, 2026
This story was originally produced by The Laconia Daily Sun. The Clock is republishing it in partnership with the Granite State News Collaborative.
Even though plans for a proposed Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Merrimack have reportedly been canceled, arrest continue statewide, including in the Lakes Region.
Local law enforcement agencies have confirmed eight arrests since April 2025.
Six arrest warrants in Belknap County were executed by local officers through a federal partnership program in the past three months. One was a targeted arrest on Feb. 3, in Meredith, for someone wanted for a “serious crime.”
Two others, in Gilford and Holderness, involved federal ICE agents, and occurred on April 22, and Nov. 25, 2025.
Laconia Police Chief Matt Canfield said he is unaware of any ICE activity in the city.
Representatives from ICE did not respond to repeated requests for information about the arrests.
Belknap County partner program
Belknap County Sheriff Bill Wright said six arrests were made by his deputies through the partnership program since Dec. 11, 2025. In November, Wright said no arrests had yet been made by his office through the program. All nine members of the Belknap Sheriff’s Office have gone through the training, and are deputized ICE agents.
Wright said, during a Feb. 26 interview, there are two scenarios during which warrants are executed: a dedicated search for an undocumented citizen wanted for a serious crime, and during another arrest when an ICE warrant is discovered.
Wright confirmed the arrest on Feb. 3, in Meredith, was targeted, but could not disclose the crime. He said examples of serious crimes include charges like homicide. A message left for Meredith Police was not immediately returned.
One person was arrested on Jan. 29, when Tilton Police responded to a burglar alarm and found someone at the scene had an ICE warrant, according to Wright.
Four people in a vehicle pulled over by an Alton Police officer on Dec. 11, 2025, were found to have ICE warrants. Wright said a deputy in the area responded to make the arrest.
“The Tilton and Alton cases started with local officers making contact through their own process,” Wright said. “The program is working like I intended it to be.”
Wright is a proponent of the partnership program, and said it has given him a seat at the table, and the ability to provide as much information as possible. He also said his staff are never masked.
Arrest in Gilford
An ICE arrest in Gilford, on April 22, 2025, came to light after a Jan. 14 selectboard meeting, when resident Dale Dormody asked the board to hold a hearing about what residents should do if they are in a situation where someone sought by ICE is at their home.
“If a delivery driver comes to our home, runs inside terrified, and asks for protection from masked, armed individuals arriving in unmarked vehicles claiming to be ICE agents, what help could a Gilford resident expect from our police department?” Dormody asked in the meeting.
Dormody called Gilford Police about this, who told him they would assist as much as possible.
“The officer’s answer was clear and professional. Gilford PD would respond and help determine whether those individuals were legitimate government agents. If they were confirmed to be ICE, however, the police would have to withdraw.”
Lt. Adam VanSteensburg spoke at the meeting, and said ICE had arrested one person months earlier, and the department was contacted about their presence in town.
“I can’t speak for every operation that ICE has in town, but I can tell you that they have been in town in the past, and they have informed us that they were here and were doing something,” VanSteensburg said. “They actually asked for our assistance in certain things, and we cooperated with them.”
After the meeting, VanSteensburg said a representative from ICE called the police station on April 21, to check if a specific truck was parked at the hotel on Sawmill Road, which it was, and the next morning, an ICE representative called, saying agents were in town.
Belknap Chief Deputy Jim McIntire was at the meeting, and spoke about the partnership program.
“We are in contact with ICE agents when they do operations, and if a resident of Belknap County needed information, they could call Gilford, Gilford could refer to us, and we could help out,” McIntire said. “So, you have New Hampshire representation, if you will, as liaison between them and the feds.”
The board discussed Dormody’s request on Jan. 19, and came to a “unanimous consensus” to suggest Dormody ask the library to sponsor such a forum.
Wright said the Belknap County Sheriff’s Office was not involved in the arrest.
Holderness operation
Cathie LeBlanc is a recently retired professor from Plymouth State University. Toward the end of her time on the job, she encountered a scenario she didn’t expect while on her way to work: a man being detained by ICE.
LeBlanc was stopping at the Irving station in Holderness, located just off the highway before the bridge into Plymouth. It was about 7 a.m. on Nov. 25, 2025, the day before Thanksgiving break, and in front of her was a long line of cars.
She recalls one vehicle at the back of the line with blue lights flashing. An unmarked SUV pulled into her lane, went around several vehicles, and turned into the gas station parking lot. Other vehicles followed the SUV into the lot, and LeBlanc did the same, to fill up her tank.
“There was one SUV that got surrounded by the other cars, and one that had its lights going,” LeBlanc said. “It took me longer than you might think to realize, or believe, it was an ICE raid.
LeBlanc started filming from a distance, and one man was pulled out of the SUV, hands behind his back.
“One guy looked official, and had something around his neck that might have been a badge,” she said. “He was in the car with the flashing lights. I made sure I got the guy’s face who was being taken away, because I wanted to document who he was.”
LeBlanc described the vehicle that cut into her lane as driving erratically, and she contacted police to report it before she realized what was going on. This driver was closest to the entrance of the gas station, and she went over and got him on video, along with the license plates of the vehicles involved.
“When I looked up, there was a guy behind me who said, ‘Hey!’”, LeBlanc said. “It scared me. He was wearing a mask. The only one. And he was videoing me.”
LeBlanc said they put the man from the civilian SUV into a vehicle, and drove him to the back of the gas station, near the Pemigewasset River. This is when she decided to leave.
“It was all serendipitous, and I was definitely not looking for that,” LeBlanc said.
A colleague from PSU pulled in and asked LeBlanc if it was an ICE raid. The colleague told her on Highland Street there were “20 or so” people pulled over, being put into vehicles.
“I had numerous friends who drive in that area who said it was happening, but I didn’t see that for myself,” LeBlanc said. “I have no reason to believe my friend would make something up.”
LeBlanc posted the video she took on Facebook, and people started contacting her. One person claimed to be the detainee’s mother, from Honduras, and was looking for money to come north. LeBlanc immediately dismissed this as a scam.
However, she was then contacted by someone claiming to be the man’s niece, who thanked her for videoing, and said her uncle was not a criminal.
“We exchanged messages, but that stopped. And I reached back out to her, but she hasn’t responded anymore,” LeBlanc. “She said she wouldn’t have known what happened to him without the video.”
The exchange through Facebook Messenger occurred within a couple hours of the video being posted.
LeBlanc doesn’t have any further information about the detained man. Her video shows him being taken away, surrounded by officers.
Capt. Dan Hamilton, of the Grafton County Sheriff’s Office, said Sgt. Benjamin Adams is the sole staff member deputized through the federal partnership program, but he was not privy to information about the Holderness arrest.
“Our agency didn’t have any interaction with that,” Hamilton said in an interview on Jan. 8.
Hamilton heard about the situation through hearsay, and spoke to Holderness Police, who were also not aware. Chief Erik DiFilippe had no information about the incident, or any other local ICE activity.
Hamilton lives near the Irving, and went himself on Nov. 25, 2025, saying one vehicle was left with blinkers on, which he believes was part of the arrest. When he arrived, he said a state trooper was also checking the scene.
Hamilton said he heard about an ICE traffic stop on Highland Street that day, which Rep. Peter Lovett (D-Holderness) also said he heard about, but neither had any official information.
Plymouth Police Chief Nate Buffington said his department was made aware that ICE would be in the area on Nov. 25.
“I can confirm that they called and let us know that they would be there,” Buffington said. “Typically, if someone is in town, they will let us know.”
Buffington and Hamilton said a federal agency like ICE will often provide relatively vague information. Buffington did not hear anything about a Highland Street incident.
What state, federal leaders say
Spokespeople from U.S. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan’s offices both acknowledged the Holderness arrest, but said they could not provide details on the identity of who was detained, nor the reason.
“Sen. Hassan’s office has heard about one person who was detained as a part of the incident in question,” a spokesperson said. “As is our general policy regarding casework matters, we will not be able to comment more, to protect the individual’s privacy.”
A spokesperson for Shaheen said the senator is concerned about the lack of transparency around ICE’s actions in New Hampshire, and nationwide, especially after the fatal shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis, during an interview in early January.
“She believes that ICE should be focused on detaining violent offenders who should not be in the United States, not sowing chaos or impeding the efforts of local law enforcement,” the spokesperson said. “Her office has heard from numerous Granite Staters expressing serious, and increasing concern over the escalation of ICE enforcement actions. She will continue to call for more accountability around these incidents.”
Rep. Maggie Goodlander’s (NH-02) office is also looking into reports of ICE activity.
“I am closely monitoring these reports and working to get as much information as possible. Please reach out to our team if we can be of service at 603-226-1002 or at Goodlander.House.Gov. Everyone in the state of New Hampshire and the United States of America is entitled to due process under the law,” according to a spokesperson for Goodlander.
Rep. Chris Pappas (NH-01) did not respond to a request for comment.
State Sen. Timothy Lang (R-Sanbornton) had no information about local arrests, and had received no other inquiries on the matter.
“Our federal law enforcement partners do have full federal police powers across the entirety of the State of NH,” Lang wrote in an email on Jan. 23. “So, if a federal enforcement activity was happening in NH, regardless of the agency, (DEA, FBI, ATF, EPA, or ICE etc.) it would completely legal and within their federal authority.”
A plan for a detainment facility in Merrimack was scrapped last month, after Gov. Kelly Ayotte traveled to Washington to speak with former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem. Local residents protested, and local government leaders publicly expressed opposition.
Requests for comment from Ayotte were not returned.