Residents urge Troy selectmen to suspend ICE agreement; Selectman Thackston defends policy

TROY, N.H. — A Troy resident told the Board of Selectmen on Dec. 18 that the town should inform residents about and temporarily suspend the Troy Police Department’s agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement until the public has a chance to weigh in.

Jack Gettens, speaking during the public-comment portion of the meeting, asked the board to hold a publicly noticed information and question session and to recommend that the Troy Police Department suspend activities under the ICE agreement while the town gathers input. In a written statement submitted to the board, Gettens said he opposes Troy officers “being under the supervision and direction of ICE,” objected to a July 2025 ICE policy he described as mandating arrest and indefinite detention without bond for certain immigration violations, and warned that the town could incur costs and liabilities under the memorandum of agreement.

Gettens cited local reporting that, he said, shows most Troy immigration arrests have involved civil violations or misdemeanors and described individual cases in which detainees spent extended periods in custody before release. “I respectfully request that the Select Board recommend that the Troy PD suspend the ICE Agreement,” Gettens wrote in his letter to the board.

Another resident, John Osterhout, asked whether additional enforcement work under the agreement could be carried out at no cost to the town.

Selectman Richard H. Thackston responded on behalf of the board, saying he did not oppose holding an information session and that one could be scheduled with the Police Chief. But in a later, more extensive written and spoken reply included in the meeting record, Thackston rejected several of Gettens’s premises. He agreed with Gettens that “Public Safety must be the first priority in immigration enforcement” and that “Most immigrants are not dangerous criminals,” but said the police chief acted within his authority in entering the agreement and defended the town’s current handling of stops and arrests.

Thackston told the board and attendees that Troy’s year-to-date police budget shows only a small overtime variance and that liability exposure remains “no greater than the normal course of business as long as Troy PD operates within the existing laws.” He also said there may be grant funding available from ICE, characterized the policy decisions at stake as primarily within the chief’s purview, and framed broader national immigration-management failures as contributing to local risks.

The Selectmen did not take formal action to terminate or suspend the agreement during the meeting. Selectman Thackston said he would not be opposed to scheduling an information session with the Police Chief so residents could be briefed and comment.