MERRIMACK – A broad coalition of more than 20 social justice, political and faith-based organizations will lead hundreds of community members in a rally at Merrimack Town Hall on Jan. 8 at 7 p.m.

The event is being held to demand that the Town Council reject any proposals to construct a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center within the town.

The rally, organized by No ICE NH, will feature speakers from across New England who stand in opposition to the proposed facility on moral, economic, and humanitarian grounds.

“As citizens of New Hampshire, we feel it is vitally important we stop ICE from creating a foothold here,” said Kimberly Herdman Shapiro, an organizer with No ICE NH. “We say no to the silent complicity of just looking the other way, ignoring not only the activities of ICE, but the horrors that history has taught us can arise from such behaviors.”

“We must reject the wholesale warehousing of human beings,” said State Rep. Wendy Thomas (D-Merrimack). “This is a system that profits from separating families and inflicting trauma. It has no place in Merrimack, and it has no place in New England.”

“The town of Merrimack is facing a choice,” said Kenneth Barnes, an organizer with the coalition. “Whether to stand up and protect Granite Staters from federal overreach, or, instead, to be complicit with ICE’s harmful and illegal actions.”

The rally will take place on the steps of Merrimack Town Hall prior to the council’s scheduled meeting. Attendees are encouraged to bring signs and make their voices heard peacefully.