New Hampshire opens immigration checkpoint 72 miles south of the Canadian border

A New Hampshire border patrol checkpoint 72 miles south of the Canadian border has raised some local eyebrows and marks "the latest in an escalation of border security efforts from [the] new presidential administration," the Concord Monitor reports. The location of the checkpoint this week — on the southbound side of Interstate 93, in Woodstock — is not new, although such stops were not conducted between 2012 and 2017.

A Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman said that the stops have recently resumed because of increased funding to the agency as well as "intelligence and operational needs." In August, 25 undocumented immigrants were picked up from the checks and 18 U.S. citizens were arrested, most for drug use, which is a "side-focus" of the checkpoint, the Monitor writes.

Most people described their stops as being quick: A Monitor reporter and photographer were asked if they were "both U.S. citizens," and a verbal "yes" had them on their way. But Carla Gericke of the libertarian group Foundation for New Hampshire Independence said the stops are "extremely troubling."

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"New Hampshire relies on tourism," she said, "and having banana republic-like stops [will hurt that]."