ICE has retracted statements about purchasing a former Pep Boys warehouse for a detention facility in Chester, NY. The agency said the original statement was a “mistake.”
“ICE has NOT purchased a facility in Chester, New York. That statement was sent without proper approval and this mistake has been rectified,” said ICE to Radio Catskill, New York Public News Network member.
This contradicts a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson who emailed WAMC on Tuesday and said, “ICE purchased a facility in Chester, New York.”
On Wednesday, an ICE spokesperson told WAMC, “We have no new detention centers to announce at this time. These will not be warehouses — they will be very well structured detention facilities meeting our regular detention standards.”
The Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said Tuesday the Chester warehouse, located at 29 Elizabeth Drive, would be an economic boon once it’s turned into a detention center. The email claimed the facility would bring in more than 1,200 jobs to the area, contribute $153 million to GDP, and $37.2 million in tax revenue.
WAMC did reach out to ICE several times and has not heard back. The Orange County Clerk told WAMC Tuesday that ICE did not have the deed for the purchase.
Chester Town Supervisor, Brandon Holridge, laid out all the problems with converting this warehouse into a detention center.
For one, Holridge says there’s no sewage capacity.
The former Pep Boys warehouse was designed for 100 to 150 workers who worked there during the day, Holridge said. ICE is claiming there will be 1,500 beds, which means 1,500 people using the restroom.
Holridge says the town of Chester does not have any more sewage capacity to allocate.
“There's literally nothing to give meaning, like there is no going over capacity. You're not supposed to. Then you get into territory of having your system shut down,” Holridge said.
Another problem is the area is an industrial park with lots of warehouses and truck traffic that all goes on one road. So if there’s a hold up at the detention center, that affects all the warehouses there.
A larger problem not specific just to the warehouse is ICE has not communicated with local officials at all.
“There's been zero communication since the very beginning between anybody from ICE or DHS and the village of Chester, the town of Chester and Orange County. So we have not heard a peep from them. The only reason we know of any of this happening at all is because of reporting from news outlets,” Holridge said.
ICE has also secretly been using offices in New Windsor for months.
In a statement to WAMC issued Tuesday, the DHS spokesperson said “ICE will not confirm office locations” citing the risk of violence against agents.
The statement went on to ask : “Is it really news that when a federal agency hires more personnel that they need more space?” citing an additional 12,000 new agents paid for by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
The news of the New Windsor operations has drawn community backlash and protests, like the Chester facility.
At a protest on Sunday organized by the Mid-Hudson Valley Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), Newburgh City Council member, Giselle Martinez, spoke about her own family's struggle to immigrate to the US.
“My parents' journey into youth, into the United States, was not easy, and despite having the legal documentation now, they're still treated less than. I am sick and tired of begging for us to be treated like human beings. First, they come for the immigrants, and then they come for you.”
Valeria Inohosa, an organizer with the Mid Hudson Valley DSA said ICE wants to settle into the area.
“So we've been aware that they have, they have the infrastructure to operate, but now they're really trying to settle into this as a base of operations. Where they cannot only snatch people up and take them wherever, but house them in these incredibly inhumane conditions.”
