STOP ICE DEPORTATION AND TRANSFER FLIGHTS THROUGH PORTSMOUTH, NH AIRPORT

To: Pease Development Authority (PDA) Board of Directors

We, the undersigned residents of New Hampshire and the local area, call for an immediate end to the use of Portsmouth International Airport for ICE deportation or transfer flights. These flights make the Pease Development Authority complicit with practices that are cruel and violate fundamental human and Constitutional rights. Further, they harm our economy, divide our families, and betray the values we hold as a state.

Fundamental Rights are Being Violated:

• Widely circulated and reliable reports make it clear that ICE’s practices of apprehension, detention, and deportation – of immigrants and citizens – systematically violate basic Constitutional rights. These include the rights to be free from unreasonable search and seizure and from cruel and unusual punishment, and the guarantee of due process and equal protection under the law.   

Humanitarian & Community Impact:

• Essential workers - construction crews, healthcare aides, hospitality workers, and farm laborers - are being torn from our communities.
• Deportations hurt everyone – Families are left devastated, trust in public institutions collapses, and small businesses lose vital staff.
    Source: NHPR —  https://www.nhpr.org/nh-news/2025-07-17/portsmouth-nh-community-trust-worker-safety-ice-arrests-restaurant-workers

Mass Deportations Cause Economic Damage to New Hampshire:  

• Mass removal of workers can shrink the economy by 4.2–6.8%, with devastating impacts on the construction, agriculture, healthcare, retail, and hospitality industries. Source: American Immigration Council — https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/report/mass-deportation/
• Immigrant workers are essential. Between 2018 and 2022, foreign-born workers in NH earned $4.6 billion - 7 percent of all household income - with non-citizens contributing $1.5 billion.  Source: NHPR — https://www.nhpr.org/business-and-economy/2025-01-07/new-hampshire-immigration-labor-force-growth-jobs-workforce
• Tax base erosion. Detentions and deportations lower tax revenues, raise costs for local employers, and destabilize industries that rely on steady labor.  Source: Brookings Institution — https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-labor-market-impact-of-deportations/

We call on the Pease Development Authority Board to:

• Stop allowing ICE flights at Pease and refuse cooperation with ICE operations. 
• Call on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and NH Congressional Delegation to stop these flights immediately.
• Advocate for humane immigration policy that supports our economy, families, and values.

SIGN THE PETITION - We refuse to be silent. Silence is complicity. Stand with us for justice, economic stability, and the soul of our communities.