New Hampshire bill bans housing of illegal immigrants in public schools and college buildings
The New Hampshire Legislature passed a bill banning public schools and colleges from sheltering illegal immigrants, except during declared disasters.
Supporters say it prioritizes students, while critics argue local governments should control facility use.
The New Hampshire Legislature approved a bill that would prohibit the use of school buildings to house illegal immigrants, a move supporters say puts students ahead of non-citizens.
The proposal, House Bill 71, bans public schools and colleges from sheltering illegal immigrants as a condition for receiving state funds. Specifically, it bars schools from “providing shelter for specified aliens who have not been admitted to the United States, absent a specified disaster.”
The bill defines this housing as “emergency shelter” for aliens not admitted under federal law. It allows brief exceptions for declared disasters, such as fires, floods, or hurricanes.
The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Juliet Harvey-Bolia, explained that the bill was initially a “contingency plan” for a potential Kamala Harris presidency but could still be useful under President Trump, The New Hampshire Bulletin reported.
“This is about students,” Harvey-Bolia stated about the proposal. “After we went through COVID and all that, I think us parents were frustrated with shutdowns.”
Proponents of the bill pointed to schools closing in New York and Massachusetts to shelter migrants. New Hampshire state Rep. Glenn Cordelli cited incidents including fights, assaults, overdoses, rapes, and attempted suicides at migrant shelters in neighboring Massachusetts.
Some Democrats in the state opposed the bill, saying local governments should make decisions about their own facilities.
While New Hampshire took a step to restrict illegal immigration, other states in the area have made moves to give benefits to illegal immigrants. Campus Reform reported last year that Massachusetts offered tuition-free community college to illegal immigrants.
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“This budget is a vote of confidence in every Massachusetts resident going to school, raising a family, and working to make ends meet—as well as a blueprint for bringing equity and opportunity to every region and resident of our state,” said Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey in a signing statement.
A spokesperson for the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, Paul Craney, described Massachusetts as a “magnet state for illegal and inadmissible migrants, due to our very generous taxpayer-funded benefits.”
Recently, the federal government has increasingly cracked down on tuition reductions for illegal immigrants. The Department of Justice has taken legal measures against Kentucky and Texas for offering in-state tuition to immigrants, which the department says prioritizes non-citizens over out-of-state citizens.
Campus Reform has contacted the University of New Hampshire for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
