In 2020, New Hampshire residents allegedly reelected Democrat Senators Shaheen and Hassan, and New Hampshire’s Second District Congressional Representative Anne Kuster. I say allegedly since almost all the down-ballot elections went to Republicans. In light of the Windham election fiasco, one wonders whether the federal office ballot counts were correct. Voting integrity issues aside, why did people vote for the above three candidates? They don’t seem to care much about local voters’ concerns, especially on issues that question the progressive orthodoxy.
Several articles appearing in popular national websites reported that illegal aliens, unaccompanied minors and adults, mostly male, apprehended at the United States-Mexico border, were being given free passage to all states and some major cities. Moreover, they were reportedly not tested or treated for COVID SARS-2 (COVID-19). The articles reported that federal agencies involved refused to comment on any aspect of those relocations. 1
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On March 29, 2021, I sent email inquiries to Senators Shaheen and Hassan, and to Representative Kuster. It was a simple request consisting of six specific questions:
- How many migrants apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border since February 1, 2021 have been relocated to New Hampshire?
- What is the breakdown of their nations of origin?
- To which cities in New Hampshire have they been relocated, and by which agency (federal or state) or private organization were they relocated?
- What were their methods of transportation?
- Were any of them tested for COVID SARS-2 prior to their departure from the border area, or upon arrival in New Hampshire. What are the test numbers and positivity rate?
- For those testing positive, what was their disposition?
Now, it would seem to be a simple matter for elected members of Congress to get answers from Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and any other agencies handling these “refugees” streaming over the border.
On April 14th, I received a rather lengthy response from Representative Kuster. Without answering even one of my questions, she instructed me that she was a co-sponsor of H.R. 1177, the U.S. Citizenship Act, which would provide a pathway to earned citizenship for undocumented immigrants, and make it a priority to reunite separated families, ensuring children’s safety.
This legislation, which she co-sponsored, was introduced by Representative Linda Sánchez (CA-38) and is a major platform for Washington Democrats. Her non-response was essentially a form letter composed by a staffer.
On May 24th, I received a similarly evasive reply from the office of Senator Shaheen. After first blaming former President Donald Trump for the problems at our southern border, she praised Temporary President Biden* for his important executive orders reversing Trump’s border policies and expediting immigration with a path to citizenship.
Again, in this obvious form letter, she did not address even one of my specific questions regarding New Hampshire, choosing instead to use my inquiry for a political lecture.
As of the date of publication, I have received no response at all from Senator Hassan. Where is she hiding?
Still seeking some answers, I wrote to New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Commissioner Lori Shibinette asking the same questions under Section 91-A:1, et seq., since DHHS is the agency that tracks immigrants entering New Hampshire.
Mr. Frank D. Nachman, Chief Legal Counsel for DHHS, responded that DHHS has no records responsive to my request. He referred my request to Barbara Seebart, Pronouns: she/her, New Hampshire State Refugee Coordinator, Office of Health Equity in Concord, who responded with the web page containing federal fiscal year figures for unaccompanied children (UC) under 18 only.
The bottom line is that there were a total of 127 unaccompanied minors sent to New Hampshire between October 2014 and March 2021, with only eight UCs entering during each of the past two fiscal years.2
The agency does not break the count down by individual cities, and no numbers appear to exist for adults over age 18 for some reason.
There you have it. In summary, there are approximately 127 illegal immigrant children in New Hampshire, but no one knows where they are, who is caring for them, or whether they’ve been screened for communicable diseases.
We also have no idea how many adults, particularly single men, have been relocated to New Hampshire, nor their countries of origin (there have been significant numbers of men of military age captured at the southern border hailing from countries in the Middle East and Asia). It would be relevant to know if these men have criminal histories and are living among us.
What we, as voters, should keep in mind, is that our incumbent federal elected officials do not have our best interests at stake. At most, they are more concerned about the next election cycle and are not interested in responding to simple questions affecting their state.
They are accustomed to lecturing us on their progressive platforms and will not tolerate inquiries that may expose their extremist positions. Remember these people in November of 2022, and VOTE THEM OUT!
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1 “Acting ICE Head Admits Agency Is Not Tracking Illegals Released Into U.S. Interior Amid Surge At The Border”, OAN, May 16, 2021 at https://www.conservativebeaver.com/2021/05/16/acting-ice-head-admits-agency-is-not-tracking-illegals-released-into-u-s-interior-amid-surge-at-the-border/, last accessed 06/13/2021
2 “Unaccompanied Children Released to Sponsors by State – March 2021”, May 3, 2021, content created by Administration for Children and Families (ACF), found at https://www.hhs.gov/programs/social-services/unaccompanied-children-released-to-sponsors-by-state-march-2021.html last accessed on 06/14/2021.
