It’s unusual for me to write on this blog about a local politician, but I want this on the record so that people doing searches for information on Rockingham County Commissioner Steven Goddu will find this and know why they should never vote for him for anything.

Rockingham County, New Hampshire, has been negotiating with ICE to hold abductees and get money for it. County government in New Hampshire (which handles only a few functions) is headed by commissioners. Rockingham has three of them: Kathryn Coyle, Steven Goddu, and Thomas Tombarello. I was able to find contact information only for Goddu, so I wrote an email to him urging that the county not collaborate with ICE. His reply shows he is a dishonest person and should not be elected to any public office.

I noted that ICE is not in fact law enforcement but is a gang that shows no regard for the law. His response:

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is law enforcement as noted in their name. They are a part of homeland security.

I won’t call this a lie, but he’s using the fallacy that the name of something tells us what it is. An “enforcer” who breaks your arm if you don’t repay a loan on time isn’t law enforcement, even if he claims he’s enforcing a valid contract. Being under a Cabinet-level department does not turn grabbing people without cause into law enforcement.

People who have violated our immigration laws are “detained” and referred to as “detainees.” There is a presumption of guilt if they are not able to produce some documentation of legal immigration into the US.

The verb “detain” normally means to stop or hold someone for a short period of time, until it can be determined whether there’s reason for further action. That’s not what ICE does when it hauls people off to a distant place without giving them a chance to communicate. But the last sentence is the biggest lie. There is no legal requirement for people to carry documentation of their immigration or citizenship status with them. I don’t have any in my wallet, unless my driver’s license counts in ICE’s eyes; following Goddu’s claim, ICE might presume me guilty of being an illegal alien based on the documents I have.

I would suggest that no one stand in the way of any law enforcement action. If someone does there are penalties. Your reference to kidnapping is an emotional response. You know it is not kidnapping.I would suggest that no one stand in the way of any law enforcement action. If someone does there are penalties. Your reference to kidnapping is an emotional response. You know it is not kidnapping.

To Goddu, the legal status of grabbing a person is merely an “emotional” issue. Failure to have probable cause, to identify themselves with badges, to respect the rights arrested people have in the United States, are merely emotional concerns in his eyes. If he repeats the words “law enforcement” often enough, he thinks he can make those emotions go away and thus turn kidnapping into a legal arrest.

Next, he offers a bizarre theory:

Unfortunately the Biden administration allowed millions of immigrants into our country who should not be here. This was done with the sole intention of overwhelming the courts to make enforcement unmanageable reasoning that laws are unfair.

The “sole intention” of Biden’s immigration policy was to overwhelm the courts and frustrate enforcement? Does Goddu mean that Biden wanted the immigration court system to fail? This theory of his is too crazy do discuss.

It is not my position that the county should evaluate the appropriateness of actions ICE is taking. Those duties are for the justice system. My position is simply that federal law enforcement is requesting assistance in holding detainees. We have available space and we are in a position to assist. The federal government recognizes that this service costs tax payers money. They will pay us a fair price and since we are already operating at only half capacity there will be excess revenue for the county. Our jail is run in a clean and humane manor. I feel confident that they will receive reasonable treatment.

It damn well is the county’s job to judge whether an agreement it’s asked to enter is ethical. It sounds as if he’d take money for anything until the courts struck it down. The “excess revenue for the county” is the key to it all. It’s about getting Federal bucks, nothing else. To justify getting those bucks, Goddu calls illegal abductions “law enforcement,” reverses the presumption of innocence, dismisses concerns about the illegality of the abductions as “emotional,” offers a bizarre conspiracy theory, and in the end admits he just wants federal money.

We see this issue from a different lens. I understand. Consider how an American would be treated if they were to sneak into Mexico or Canada and decided to work under the table and seek health & welfare benefits from those governments. Imagine if millions of our citizens did the same. I suspect we are treating these violators of our immigration laws much better than our citizens would be treated in other countries.

To wrap things up, he offers the old nonsense that immigrants “work under the table” and simultaneously are living on welfare. It’s true that American laws make it difficult for non-citizens, whether legally here or not, to work for a living, and they often have to get around the laws, potentially depriving them of the protections which employees normally have. Characterizing this as “under the table” implies that there’s something sneaky and dishonorable about earning a living without permission from Washington. Many other countries also are hostile to immigrants, and the rise of nativist parties in Europe has made things worse. The more autocratic of these countries may well have squads that make ICE look peaceful and lawful. For example, according to Wikipedia, “Saudi Arabia deported thousands of Tigrayan migrants to Ethiopia after holding them unlawfully for six months to six years in formal and informal detention facilities across the kingdom. The Tigrayan migrants were brutally tortured while being unjustly held in Saudi prisons.” Is that the standard against which he wants to measure the USA?

Goddu distorts facts and shows no regard for human rights when there’s a chance for income. “So?” you might ask. “What’s unusual about a politician who lies for money?” But this isn’t run-of-the-mill venality. It’s dishonesty in the service of a secret police force that grabs people for no cause, sends them to places that are far worse than normal prisons or to countries they never lived in, snatches immigrants when they’re making court appearances to confirm or rectify their legal status, and intimidates anyone who tries to record their actions as allowed by the law. It’s dishonesty that doesn’t care about the human consequences.

I may have voted for Goddu in the past, as there weren’t a lot of choices on the ballot. I hope that an honest person will challenge and defeat this contemptible politician next time.