Ayotte releases DHS documents about planned ICE detention center in Merrimack

This image, which was included in the Department of Homeland Security documents Gov. Kelly Ayotte released Thursday, shows the warehouse at 50 Robert Milligan Parkway in Merrimack that the federal government intends to convert into an immigrant detention center. (Source: Department of Homeland Security)

Gov. Kelly Ayotte has released a set of documents she said she received Thursday evening from the Department of Homeland Security regarding an immigrant detention center the federal government is planning for Merrimack.

The U.S. government is building a network of detention centers throughout the country to hold immigrants prior to deportation, according to the documents. The documents report that the sites will serve as “ICE’s long-term detention solution,” and estimates detained immigrants will stay at a smaller facility (like the one planned in Merrimack) for “3-7 days on average” before being transferred to a larger one, where they’ll stay for “60 days on average.”

“These facilities will ensure the safe and humane civil detention of aliens in ICE custody, while helping ICE effectuate mass deportations,” the documents read. The project will use $38.3 billion Congress allocated in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to “fully implement a new detention model by the end of Fiscal Year 2026,” according to the documents.

In Merrimack, the federal government estimates it will spend $156 million to retrofit a warehouse on Robert Milligan Parkway and then spend $146 million to operate the detention center for the first three years. DHS says 1,252 jobs will be created in the area (and 265 jobs for operation of the facility, though New Hampshire’s state corrections department and local jails have faced a severe workforce shortage in recent years), contribute $151.3 million to GDP, and bring $31.2 million in tax revenue. 

However, the documents make mention of this planned facility’s “ripple effects to the Oklahoma economy.” Oklahoma City was included among planned detention center sites, but the city’s mayor said last month that project is off the table. The Bulletin emailed questions to Ayotte’s office, DHS, ICE, and the White House (which referred questions to DHS), including whether the Oklahoma mention was a copy-and-paste error and what that might mean for the legitimacy of the estimates included in the documents. The Bulletin hasn’t yet heard back from any of the parties.

The release of the documents follows a tit for tat between Ayotte and the federal government over what information the federal government is providing to New Hampshire. 

More from this section

+5

How gas prices have changed in New Hampshire in the last week

Valentine's Day gifting trends in New Hampshire, according to Instacart data

Earlier Thursday before the documents were released, Todd Lyons, the acting director of ICE, said during a U.S. Senate hearing that DHS “has worked with Gov. Ayotte” on the economic impact of the project. He also said DHS provided Ayotte with an economic impact summary.

Ayotte had previously said that the federal government declined to confirm its plans for the facility until Feb. 3, when a set of documents surfaced about the project plans. At the time, Ayotte said those documents were the first official confirmation she had received.

Lyons’ comments Thursday led many to speculate that Ayotte wasn’t being truthful when she previously denied having knowledge of the project. Ayotte quickly put out a statement denying this and called Lyons’ assertions “simply not true.”

Later that evening, Ayotte published the economic impact documents she said she received from the federal government. However, she said she didn’t receive them until Thursday evening after Lyons’ comments.

“After my office inquired about the economic impact study following today’s Senate hearing, DHS has now for the first time distributed the document,” Ayotte said in a statement. “Once the document was received, we immediately shared it with the Town of Merrimack. We are publishing this document on my website for the public to find.”

The saga comes amid an aggressive deportation campaign spearheaded by President Donald Trump. With the help of his allies in Congress, he allocated an additional $45 billion to ICE through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. ICE is now the highest-funded law enforcement agency in the country, being authorized to spend roughly $80 billion in the federal fiscal year 2026. 

The agency, along with partner agencies like Customs and Border Protection, have spread out across the country to detain and deport undocumented immigrants. And agents’ tactics — including wearing masks to shield their identity and allegedly racially profiling people they suspect are immigrants — have sparked public outrage. Other existing ICE detention centers have been plagued by allegations of inhumane treatment. In the first six weeks of 2026, six people died while in ICE custody across the U.S., according to the ACLU.