New Hampshire Governor Kelly Ayotte says she will support President-elect Donald Trump's plan to deport the nation's 11 million undocumented immigrants, but that support could come with significant costs.

Jeremy Robbins - executive director of the American Immigration Council - pointed to new data showing that deporting people who work in critical industries such as construction, education, food production, and health care would reduce the nation's Gross Domestic Product by nearly 7% - which is on par with losses during the Great Recession.

"The costs of mass deportation would be tremendous," said Robbins, "not just because it's so expensive to deport people, but because it would wreak havoc on the economy."

The cost of deportations is expected to be well over $100 billion, and Trump's transition team has vowed to slash federal funding for local governments that refuse to cooperate.

The New Hampshire Senate has passed legislation to prohibit municipalities from designating themselves as "sanctuary cities" for migrants and compel police to assist federal officials in pursuing them.

Some critics have called Trump's recent vow to scrap restrictions on Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests at churches, hospitals, and schools an effort to instill widespread fear.

During a recent Ethnic Media Services briefing, Elizabeth Taufa - policy attorney with the Immigrant Legal Resource Center - said it's important to understand what mass deportations would look like at the community level.

"Kids that aren't going to school because their parents are afraid of being deported," said Taufa. "Shortages of health-care workers because people either move to places that are a little bit safer or they are removed from the country. It looks like fewer teachers, and we are already facing a teacher shortage."

A strong majority of voters across party lines don't want mass deportations, according to an October survey.

Instead, they want lawmakers to create a legal path to citizenship, a move the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates would reduce the federal deficit by nearly $1 trillion.




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According to the Immigration Policy Tracking Project, the Trump administration has taken 130 actions on immigration so far this term. Groups in Montana are trying to both track those changes and watch state bills.

One early executive order placed a 90-day freeze on refugee arrivals to the country, halting families with flights already booked to the U.S. Another made changes to Temporary Protected Status and Humanitarian Parole, granted when a person's home country is deemed unsafe due to armed conflict, natural disaster or other emergencies.

Mary Poole, executive director of the nonprofit resettlement agency Soft Landing Missoula, said the orders could undo years of work.

"This rapid removal of humanitarian protections, that's one thing that's really scary for folks," Poole observed. "Many people came here through this new legal pathway that Biden created and it might just be deemed null and void."

Two Montana immigration bills passed the House and were brought to the Senate last week. One would require police to check and report someone's immigration status during a "lawful stop" and the other would allow the state to criminally prosecute a person in federal detention for immigration violations.

Soft Landing Missoula works with 600 refugees and immigrants from 30 different countries. Poole said
the organization has taken on new work with the change in federal administration, including immigrant rights' training.

"Immigrants have rights," Poole emphasized. "Making sure that folks are aware of what those are and how our organizations and facilities can uphold those rights, that's a really important piece of the work that we've been doing."

According to the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, if immigration officials come to a person's home, they do not need to answer a knock without a warrant signed by a judge, containing the person's correct name and address. People approached also have the right to remain silent.


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A northwest Texas family is waiting to hear from agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement after a recent traffic stop.

Jose is in the country illegally and was taken into custody by ICE agents after he and his wife, Ashley, were stopped by Lubbock police. Ashley said the incident was traumatizing for her and their three children.

"My oldest son, he was crying, because they were being really rough with his dad," Ashley explained. "They're slamming him against the window where he's at, and he's asking, 'Why are they taking him?' And I'm trying to explain to my 4-year-old that his dad's here illegally. He doesn't understand that."

Jose, who's from Central America, was eventually released and told to report for a hearing, but Ashley pointed out they have received conflicting information about upcoming court proceedings.

Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, an attorney in Austin representing the family, said they will fight to keep Jose from being deported. She added the couple had hired an attorney to get Jose his Green Card.

"This story highlights the fact that ICE is not just apprehending and placing people with criminal histories into immigration detention," Lincoln-Goldfinch noted. "Now, because of this incident, Jose has been placed into deportation proceedings. And this is one more person in the already backlogged immigration court system."

Ashley added if Jose is deported, she and their children will go to Central America with him.


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Immigrant advocates in Florida are ramping up efforts to help families navigate President Donald Trump's new immigration orders, which have increased fear and uncertainty in communities across the Sunshine State.

The Florida Immigrant Coalition has been holding legal workshops, launched a Know Your Rights webpage, and operates a statewide immigration hotline to provide resources for those at risk of deportation.

Adriana Rivera, director of communications for the coalition, said with reports of Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids across Florida, the group is working to ensure immigrant families understand their constitutional rights, regardless of immigration status.

"There is an element of racial profiling that we are witnessing, where even the sole purpose of you speaking a different language has gotten people detained," Rivera observed.

The organization also urged immigrants to carry written scripts asserting their rights, particularly for children who may be questioned at school. Trump's executive orders have raised concerns about increased ICE access to schools, hospitals and other public spaces where enforcement actions were previously restricted.

In some Florida school districts, officials have been instructed to cooperate with ICE agents even if they refuse to allow parental notification before detaining a student. Rivera stressed all families should be making a plan.

"If you are a U.S. citizen but you speak a different language, but you look a certain way or you pray differently than you know. You're not a Christian. You should be thinking, well, what happens if, if this situation occurs, if that situation occurs," Rivera explained.

As enforcement actions escalate, advocates urged families to consult immigration lawyers as soon as possible, particularly those with Temporary Protected Status or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals as Trump's policies threaten to roll back protections.


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