On February 13, 2026, two major immigration policy developments sent ripples through communities and businesses across the United States. In New Hampshire, Governor Kelly Ayotte released a trove of documents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that shed new light on the federal government’s plans for a controversial immigrant detention center in Merrimack. Meanwhile, on the same day, the DHS and Department of Labor announced the allocation of 64,716 supplemental H-2B visas for the current fiscal year, a move designed to ease persistent labor shortages in seasonal industries. Both announcements underscore the complexity—and the contentiousness—of the nation’s approach to immigration at a time of heightened political and economic stakes.
According to documents received by Governor Ayotte and reported by The Bulletin, the U.S. government is in the midst of building a nationwide network of detention centers. These facilities are intended to hold immigrants prior to deportation, with a two-tiered system: smaller centers like the one planned for Merrimack will detain individuals for an average of three to seven days before transferring them to larger centers, where the average stay is projected at sixty days. The documents describe these facilities as “ICE’s long-term detention solution,” aiming to “ensure the safe and humane civil detention of aliens in ICE custody, while helping ICE effectuate mass deportations.”
The scale of the undertaking is immense. Congress has allocated $38.3 billion through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to implement this new detention model by the end of Fiscal Year 2026. In Merrimack alone, the federal government expects to spend $156 million retrofitting a warehouse on Robert Milligan Parkway and an additional $146 million to operate the center for its first three years. The economic impact, according to DHS, will be significant: an estimated 1,252 jobs created in the area, including 265 for facility operations, a $151.3 million boost to local GDP, and $31.2 million in tax revenue.
Yet, the rollout has been anything but smooth. Initial documents referenced “ripple effects to the Oklahoma economy,” even though Oklahoma City’s mayor had already declared that a similar project was off the table there. After questions from The Bulletin and local officials, updated documents released later on February 13 scrubbed the Oklahoma references, but notably, the economic impact numbers remained unchanged. This raised eyebrows about the accuracy of the projections and the federal government’s communication practices.
The information release followed a public back-and-forth between Governor Ayotte and federal officials. On February 12, Todd Lyons, the acting director of ICE, told a U.S. Senate hearing that DHS had “worked with Gov. Ayotte” on the economic impact study and had already provided her with a summary. Ayotte, however, quickly denied this, stating, “Lyons’ assertions are simply not true.” She maintained that her office had not received any official confirmation about the facility until February 3, when project plans surfaced. After the Senate hearing, Ayotte clarified, “After my office inquired about the economic impact study following today’s Senate hearing, DHS has now for the first time distributed the document. Once the document was received, we immediately shared it with the Town of Merrimack. We are publishing this document on my website for the public to find.”
These developments in Merrimack are part of a broader, aggressive deportation campaign spearheaded by President Donald Trump. With Congressional allies, Trump secured an additional $45 billion for ICE through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, bringing the agency’s total authorized spending to roughly $80 billion for Fiscal Year 2026. As The Bulletin notes, ICE is now the highest-funded law enforcement agency in the country, working in tandem with Customs and Border Protection to detain and deport undocumented immigrants nationwide. The agency’s tactics—including agents wearing masks and accusations of racial profiling—have sparked public outrage and concern about civil rights.
Concerns about the treatment of detainees are not new. According to the ACLU, six people died while in ICE custody in just the first six weeks of 2026. Reports of inhumane conditions at other detention centers have only intensified scrutiny of the government’s expanding detention network. Local officials in New Hampshire, already contending with a severe workforce shortage in state corrections and local jails, have questioned whether the promised economic benefits of the Merrimack facility will materialize—or if they will come at too high a social cost.
While the government ramps up its detention and deportation infrastructure, it is also attempting to address the persistent demand for temporary foreign labor. As reported by Ogletree Deakins’ Immigration Practice Group, DHS and the Department of Labor have authorized 64,716 supplemental H-2B visas for Fiscal Year 2026, in addition to the annual statutory cap of 66,000. The H-2B program allows employers to hire foreign workers for temporary, nonagricultural jobs when qualified U.S. workers are unavailable. Demand for these visas has soared; in January 2026 alone, employers filed over 10,000 applications requesting more than 162,000 positions—a sharp increase from the previous year.
The supplemental visas are split into three allocations based on employment start dates. The first allocation of 18,490 visas is for jobs starting between January 1 and March 31, limited to returning workers from Fiscal Years 2023 to 2025. The second allocation, 27,736 visas plus any unused from the first, covers April 1 to April 30, also restricted to returning workers. The third allocation, another 18,490 visas plus any unused from earlier rounds, is for jobs starting between May 1 and September 30, with no returning worker requirement. Each allocation has a narrow filing window, and petitions must be submitted quickly after statutory caps are reached.
To access these supplemental visas, employers face strict requirements. They must submit an attestation under penalty of perjury that their business would suffer “irreparable harm”—defined by the Department of Labor as “permanent and severe financial loss”—without the requested H-2B workers. Supporting evidence, such as contracts, work orders, and payroll records, must be retained, and a detailed written statement prepared in case of a DHS or DOL audit. Given the high demand and rapid exhaustion of visas in previous years, early preparation is critical for employers hoping to secure these workers.
These parallel moves—expanding detention capacity for mass deportations while issuing supplemental visas to meet labor demands—highlight the inherent contradictions and challenges of U.S. immigration policy. On one hand, the government is investing billions to detain and remove undocumented immigrants; on the other, it is forced to rely on foreign labor to keep key sectors of the economy running. The debate over the Merrimack detention center and the scramble for H-2B visas reflect a nation still struggling to reconcile its economic needs with its political and humanitarian values.
As the 2026 fiscal year unfolds, communities like Merrimack and employers across the country will be watching closely to see how these policies play out on the ground—and whether the promised benefits, economic or otherwise, truly materialize.