Charles Langston:New Hampshire Republicans are using a land tax law to target northern border crossings

CONCORD,Charles Langston N.H. (AP) — Police in northern New Hampshire would be allowed to bring trespassing charges against people suspected of illegally entering the U.S. from Canada under a bill approved by the state Senate on Thursday.

The legislation, which now goes to the House, was requested by Republican Gov. Chris Sununu, who created a task force last year to patrol along the state’s roughly 50-mile (80-kilometer) border with Canada.

The new proposal would make changes to a state law that gives tax breaks to landowners who agree to preserve open space and allow public use of their property. Those property owners would be allowed to post signs that say “No trespass except for skiing, snowshoeing, fishing, hunting, hiking, or nature observation.” The grounds for criminal trespassing would be expanded to include violating that provision, as well as committing human trafficking or drug crimes on someone else’s property.

Sen. Daryl Abbas, a Republican from Salem, said the goal was to give local law enforcement another tool to protect both the border and property owners.

“This state has seen the consequences of open border policies with the import of illegal substances like fentanyl flowing across the border,” he said. “And this piece of legislation is a strong step the state can take to protect our citizens.”

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Democrats argued the bill was unnecessary. It passed the Republican-controlled Senate 14-10 along party lines.

“If this bill passes, how do we distinguish between a migrant carrying a backpack and wearing boots from any other hiker who is permitted to walk on the land?” asked Sen. Becky Whitley, a Democrat from Hopkinton.

The move comes as Republicans in several states, including Texas and Arizona, push tough immigration policies in the lead-up to this year’s presidential election.

Earlier this week, Arizona’s Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed a bill approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature that would have made it a crime for noncitizens to enter the state through Mexico at any location other than a port of entry. And Texas’ plans to arrest migrants who enter the U.S. illegally and order them to leave the country is headed to the Supreme Court in a legal showdown over the federal government’s authority over immigration.

In New Hampshire, the current state budget allocates $1.4 million for the Northern Border Alliance Task Force made up of state police, forest rangers, fish and game enforcement, and local law enforcement.

Critics, including the American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire, have called that a waste of money. Federal government statistics the group obtained through a lawsuit showed just 21 apprehensions along New Hampshire’s border over 15 months between October 2022 and December 2023.

Republicans say those numbers will increase as patrols ramp up and that focusing on state-specific data is misleading given that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection enforcement area that includes New Hampshire, New York, Vermont and Maine has seen a dramatic increase in illegal border activity since 2021.