KEENE, N.H. (MyKeeneNow) Questions about how the City of Keene and its police department should respond to federal immigration enforcement took center stage during a WKBK radio interview Monday, as Ward 4 Councilor Catt Workman called for greater transparency and limits on local cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Workman discussed the issue with Dan Mitchell on Good Morning with Dan Mitchell following reports of ICE activity in Keene over the weekend and Monday morning. The reports have prompted concern among residents and led city officials to schedule a special City Council meeting for Monday, Aug. 17.

Workman said she believes at least one person was taken into ICE custody and that federal immigration authorities remain active in Keene and elsewhere in New Hampshire.

The reports have included an early-morning incident on Franklin Street involving unmarked vehicles and federal agents wearing police-style vests. According to accounts discussed during the interview, a man was temporarily restrained during the incident and later released.

Mayor Jay Kahn has said the city did not participate in or support the ICE operation, while acknowledging the fear it has generated in the community.

Workman, however, said she has questions about the extent of any cooperation between federal agents and local authorities.

Workman Questions Use of Police Property

Workman said she learned about the Franklin Street activity through contacts with the Monadnock Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Coalition, of which she is a member. She said she received a call shortly after 7 a.m. and went to the area to support a family after the federal agents had left.

She said she subsequently received reports and photographs showing vehicles believed to belong to ICE in the parking lot of the Keene Police Department.

That information, Workman said, raised questions about whether the city was providing more assistance than simply complying with federal law.

“To me, it’s being supportive — KPD being supportive of the operation — if they’re using city property,” Workman said during the interview.

She argued that if ICE agents were permitted to stage vehicles on police property, the city should explain whether that use was authorized.

Workman drew a distinction between complying with federal requirements and voluntarily providing additional assistance to immigration authorities.

Her position, she said, is not that Keene police should violate federal law, but that the department should not go beyond what the law requires.

Workman Says Concerns Predate Recent Activity

The councilor said the issue has been on her radar for roughly a year.

Workman said she began raising concerns with city officials last summer after members of the LGBTQ+ community expressed fears about how Keene would respond if ICE conducted enforcement operations locally.

She later met privately with the city manager, city attorney and police chief in November or December to discuss the issue. Workman described that meeting as unproductive.

She subsequently asked the City Council to examine the city’s master mutual aid memorandum of understanding, or MOU, which governs cooperation among Keene and other law enforcement agencies.

Workman said she wants the city to reconsider that arrangement and potentially replace the master agreement with individual agreements for each participating police department.

Her goal, she said, is to make the nature and limits of cooperation easier to examine rather than allowing broad provisions in a single agreement to govern multiple agencies.

Council Meeting Set for Aug. 17

Workman said she was the councilor who pushed for the special meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 17, in City Council Chambers.

She expressed frustration that the meeting will not take place sooner, saying residents need answers while concerns about immigration enforcement are still fresh.

“I requested the meeting. I actually demanded that we have a meeting,” Workman told Mitchell. “We are leaders, and the community is looking to us to lead through this difficult time and this crisis.”

Workman said she wants the meeting to include city councilors, residents, city management and Police Chief Steve Stewart, and provide an opportunity to address questions about the department’s relationship with ICE.

Among the assurances she wants is a commitment that Keene police will use only the minimum level of cooperation required under federal law.

“We don’t have to bend over backwards to make ICE’s job easy and comfortable for them,” Workman said.

The meeting is expected to give councilors an opportunity to publicly discuss what authority Keene police have when federal immigration officials conduct operations in the city and what limitations exist on local involvement.

Workman also wants the city to determine whether the current mutual aid agreement allows or facilitates cooperation with federal immigration enforcement and whether changes should be made.

Workman Emphasizes Community Impact

Throughout the interview, Workman emphasized that her concerns extend beyond questions of law enforcement policy.

She described the people affected by the recent activity as established members of the Keene community, including workers, parents, business owners and members of local organizations.

“These are our neighbors,” Workman said. “These are hardworking, good people, locals.”

Workman said members of the MDEIB Coalition have worked to provide support and connect families with resources following reports of immigration enforcement.

She said her role has placed her in contact with residents who are frightened by the possibility of ICE activity and uncertain about what could happen to their families.

Workman also rejected the suggestion that the immigrants she knows represent a threat to public safety.

She said the people she has encountered include parents of young children, business owners and PTA members who participate in community activities.

“They’re active in our community in all the good ways,” she said.

Questions Remain for City Officials

The special meeting could provide answers to several questions raised during Workman’s interview, including whether ICE agents or vehicles were authorized to use Keene Police Department property and, if so, under what circumstances.

It also could clarify what policies currently govern KPD’s interactions with federal immigration authorities and whether the police chief believes the department’s existing practices go beyond what federal law requires.

Workman said she intends to continue providing updates to the community as the meeting approaches.

The special Keene City Council meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 17, in Council Chambers.

Listen to the full interview: