The number of people detained in New Hampshire by federal immigration authorities since Donald Trump took office was greater than the number detained any of the previous six months.
Immigration officials across Northern New England often send detainees to the Strafford County Jail in Dover. There, for each of the last six months, the average number of immigration detainees per day was typically in the low 80s, never rising above 90 individuals.
But in February, the jail had an average of 106 immigration detainees each day, a 25 percent increase over the previous month.
County Administrator Ray Bower says this is not necessarily a trend: “I don’t see it as being inconsistent with some prior months,” he said, “we’ve been in the upper 90’s before.”
One month over the previous year did reach a daily average of 105 detainees.
Preliminary numbers from the month of March show an evening out – with an average at 93 people per day.
Strafford County charges the federal government $83 per day for each detainee.
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