Kelly Ayotte

New Hampshire Republican Governor Kelly Ayotte says DHS no longer has plans for an immigration detention center in Merrimack.

The Trump administration had planned to retrofit a warehouse into a processing center where those taken into custody during ICE actions would be held before later being deported.

The proposal had sparked large protests around the state and local officials had pushed back on the idea.

It has created a political challenge for Ayotte, who is seeking re-election in November and denied having knowledge of the facility in January.

Earlier this month, Acting Director of ICE Todd Lyons told a Senate committee that DHS has worked with Ayotte on the facility, which Ayotte called, quote, simply untrue.