On the Day Without Immigrants, businesses across NH shutdown in solidarity with the cause, including a bakery based in Nashua. This nationally observed event held last Monday saw businesses close and workers stay home to underscore the vital role immigrants play in the workforce. In the heart of Nashua’s downtown, La Mexicana, an iconic bakery run by Socorro Gonzalez, also joined the symbolic protest. Selling not only Mexican breads but also sweets and authentic ingredients, it holds a special place in the neighborhood.
“We are fundamentally a Mexican bakery, but our support goes beyond this; it extends to immigrants from all parts of the world,” pointed out Gonzalez when asked about the bakery’s contribution to the day’s events. The economic significance of these foreign-born workers is demonstrated by the fact that their earnings totaled roughly $4.6 billion between 2018 and 2022, equating to around 7% of the total household income of the state. This data was sourced from the NH Bureau of Labor and Economic Information.
Amidst this shifting landscape, religious leaders in Massachusetts are standing up to the Trump administration’s decision allowing ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to conduct arrests in places of worship. The religious leaders are vigorously challenging the decision, unyielding in their stand even as Trump’s new policy proves disruptive. The previous week saw a community gathering of over a thousand people, who had come to pick up guidance on the steps their establishments should take if ICE were to knock on their doors.
At that gathering, church leaders called for calm amid growing fears of increased ICE raids. Susan Church, who heads the state’s Office for Refugees and Immigrants assured the crowd that despite the new policy, ICE is resource-constrained and unlikely to prioritize religious establishments with their enforcement actions. As per the agreement reached before this session, 26 faith leaders signed a statement reinforcing the age-old concept of churches as sanctuaries and affirming that the policy of ‘sanctuary’ never changes, regardless of who the monarch, emperor or president is.
One seemingly unrelated but major incident occurred in NH when a ski lift in Attitash malfunctioned. This freakish incident occurred on a Sunday afternoon and led to a man being hospitalized after falling 20 feet from the lift. He has since been discharged and no other injuries were reported. The episode was termed as ‘uncommon’ by Mark Petrozzi, a member of the New Hampshire Passenger Tramway Safety Board.
“The ski lift’s loosening was totally unexpected as there had been no signs of any issues,” remarked Petrozzi, further explaining the rigorous safety protocols involved. According to him, they have “an exceptionally specific set of inspectors and a thorough list of safety requirements”. Any failure in these routine checks means the public cannot access the lift until the issue is resolved. Petrozzi added that the safety board and other officials are working closely with the ski lift’s manufacturer to ascertain the exact reasons behind the incident.
In the political domain, New Hampshire Senator Maggie Hassan expressed her opposition to the nomination of Robert Kennedy Jr. For Secretary of Health. One of the 13 democrats on the committee opposing Kennedy’s nomination, Senator Hassan vocalized her reservations during Kennedy’s hearing before the committee the preceding week. Her critique was focused primarily on Kennedy’s history of promoting false links between vaccinations and childhood autism – a claim she found deeply concerning.
Stressing the seriousness of the situation, Senator Hassan warned against casting aspersions on established scientific facts. Her expressed concerns were informed by a personal perspective, as she is the mother of an adult son with cerebral palsy. Moving away from politics and back to societal issues, the acute housing shortage in NH was the focal point in a recent House session that took place on Tuesday.
The state’s housing scarcity was at the center of Tuesday’s debate in the Chamber. Housing advocates, home builders, and realtors united in their plea for decisive action to tackle the ongoing housing crisis. Among the many proposals deliberated upon was a proposition that would give all homeowners the prerogative to build an independent auxiliary dwelling unit or ADU of up to 950 square feet.
Joe Alexander, a Republican from Goffstown and the primary sponsor of this proposal, emphasized the benefits of ADUs. In his words, “ADUs offer a flexible and efficient way of creating additional livable space – be it for elderly relatives, young adults just starting out or as rental units to help homeowners offset escalating costs.” However, the New Hampshire Municipal Association disagrees and stands opposed to the proposed bill, primarily based on the potential impact on local control.
Under current law, cities and towns are mandated to accommodate ADUs, yet there is a legal distinction as permission is not required for the establishment of independent units. Meanwhile, hospitals across New Hampshire are making no immediate changes in response to President Trump’s executive order against gender-affirming care for those under 19 years of age. Dartmouth Health, in particular, which houses a dedicated pediatric gender affirmation program, reported that its clinical operations remain unchanged.
Despite the uncertainty surrounding President Trump’s executive order, Dartmouth Health affirmed its continued commitment to supporting its patients and their families. Dartmouth reportedly has the most comprehensive youth gender affirmation program among all NH hospitals. Even other local hospitals, despite not providing such services, have informed the Bulletin that they don’t anticipate any changes in the near future as they await further clarifications regarding the executive order.