Senate finance panel advances mobile driver's license measure, approves 48‑hour county hold for ICE pick‑ups

The New Hampshire Senate Finance Committee in executive session advanced a bill authorizing a mobile driver's license and approved an amendment to allow counties to hold certain detainees for up to 48 hours to permit U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to pick them up.

The mobile driver's license measure was described by supporters as a self‑funding program once established, though members expressed concern about privacy protections and where startup money would come from. The committee also debated and approved an amendment that would permit counties to hold people an additional 48 hours (excluding weekends and holidays, as written) to give federal authorities time to take custody.

Committee leaders said the mobile license proposal would be structured so a fee could later be set by the issuing agency; committee discussion included a rough revenue estimate. “There were a half million driver's licenses in the state, there would be a hundred thousand of them being renewed every year…if the fee were $10 to do this, then that would be $1,000,000,” Senator Lang said, estimating that initial capital costs would be recouped in roughly two years under that scenario. Several senators asked for clearer statutory limits on data tracking, sale of data, and combining license data with other personally identifiable information; those privacy safeguards were not spelled out in the bill’s text during the committee discussion.

On a separate bill, committee members debated an amendment to allow counties to hold individuals for up to 48 hours to permit…