The type of agreement, 287(g), signed by Grafton County Sheriff Jill Myers, gives her department the ability to deputize officers to work as ICE agents and wide discretion therein without being accountable to residents (“Deputy’s ICE training complete”; June 21). The story examined the difference of opinion between two of the three GC Commissioners and Grafton County residents alarmed that Myers had signed on.
I attended this meeting. a Forum letter (“Local police should shun ICE”; June 21) laid out the reasons why this agreement is so dangerous and why 700 individuals and organizations signed a petition asking the Sheriff to terminate it.
Commissioner Wendy Piper viewed the meeting as hostile but she was the only one present who pushed back on our legitimate, respectful questions. One question was how Myers could sign an agreement without knowing what was expected of her department. If she provided limited insight into immigration collaboration, as the Valley News reported, she was naive at best during the meeting when questioned about what she was entering into, saying she would know more after the training with ICE. Meeting attendees were well aware that when sheriffs enter into this 287(g) agreement they are pressured into cooperating with whatever ICE dictates.
Apparently, the ONLY issue Piper has with ICE is that agents wear masks to cover their faces, but she has no problem with what they are doing while they wear masks. This agency is absolutely lawless, performing extra-judicial acts of terror in communities all over the country. It is impossible to ignore the kidnapping of permanent residents and of farm workers complying with check-ins in New Hampshire and Vermont. Opinions on immigration are not the issue here. Sheriffs are being used as a tool of the Trump regime. Having ICE in our communities should terrify us all.
I am asking Piper not to budget one nickel for this program if Myers refuses to terminate the agreement.
Sharon Racusin
Hanover
Support for Piper
I read a recent letter critiquing Grafton County Commissioner Wendy Piper’s decision to leave the Democrat Party and join the Republicans (“Clarity on Piper’s stance”; July 5). If one also reads the Valley News article quoting Piper in her own words, you will see that her decision is absolutely reasonable and without hint of bias against trans people or legal immigrants.
She explains that the Dems, who have majority control over county government, had cut off public participation in commission meetings, voted for larger than needed tax increases, and are hostile to border security. And she joins increasing numbers of voters who find that the New Hampshire Republican Party is correctly focused on everyday concerns like public safety, an economy that supports well-paying jobs and letting all individuals live their lives as they see fit.
Jim Rubens
Etna
The writer is chairman of the Upper Valley Republicans.