By Peter Katz, Westchester County Business Journal
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Chester, NY (westfaironline.com) — The Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is moving ahead with a plan to purchase, occupy and rehabilitate a warehouse property at 29 Elizabeth Drive in the Orange County Village of Chester, NY. ICE had kept the plan under the radar but finally had to file a required public notice about its planned use of the warehouse because a portion of the property is located within a federally-regulated flood hazard zone. The building covers just over 401,000 square feet and the site has parking spaces for 194 cars.
Although ICE does not plan to make major external changes to the existing warehouse, site improvements may include internal structural changes to the building, surface parking area modifications, installation of a small guard building of approximately 150 square feet, establishment of an outdoor recreation area, utility and stormwater improvements, and fence line modifications. The new and modified facilities would occupy approximately 35.9 acres.
The warehouse had until 2024 been used by PepBoys, an automotive service company that provides both parts and repair services.
It’s believed that ICE plans to use the warehouse to hold people for several weeks until they are sent to one of seven larger detention camps that it would set up around the U.S. After being held there they would be removed from the country. Todd Lyons the acting director of ICE had previously spoken in general terms about ICE’s operational plans and said what they have in mind is to set up a “business-like” system where people can be removed from the U.S. as efficiently as Amazon moves around boxes filled with merchandise.
“ICE evaluated reasonable alternative locations within the Area of Operations (AOR) and dismissed these alternative locations as they did not meet the purpose and need due to siting, operational suitability, or buildability issues,” the agency said about the warehouse in Chester. “Based on this analysis, the Chester site is identified as the preferred alternative due to its ability to minimize environmental impacts, avoid sensitive land uses, and meet the operational requirements of the Proposed Action”
Congressman Pat Ryan whose district includes Chester is among those rallying the Hudson Valley community to stop the conversion of the warehouse into an ICE detention facility. Ryan and bipartisan local leaders said they received no warning or information from the Trump administration about the plan.
“Our Hudson Valley community strongly rejects the Trump administration’s plans for mass detention camps across the country, especially in our own backyard. It’s shameful, un-American, and the exact opposite of everything our community stands for,” Ryan said. “We’re seeing law-abiding members of our community snatched off the streets with no due process, and whether that’s at facilities in New York or across the country, we cannot accept it.”
Ryan said that given the total lack of coordination with local government the community needs to speak up if it wants to “prevent ICE from moving in, terrorizing our neighbors, and making us all less safe.”
Chester Supervisor Brandon Holdridge said, “ICE has no place in Chester, the Hudson Valley, New York, or the country at this point. The well-documented abuses and illegal actions being carried out by this president’s Department of Homeland Security are out of control.”
Laurie Tautel, chairwoman of the Orange County Legislature, said she could not support an ICE facility anywhere in the county. “Our residents deserve to live without fear, and our local governments should be focused on policies that build trust, protect families, and support the well-being of our communities,” Tautel said. “This proposal moves us in the opposite direction.”
County Legislator and Democratic Caucus Leader Genesis Ramos said, “Immigrant families are living in fear, and that fear is hurting our neighbors and our local economy. Latino-owned, family-run businesses are struggling because people are afraid to leave their homes. We must stand against this proposal and also show up for our immigrant community, by supporting our neighbors, our local businesses, and one another. This is about dignity, safety, and refusing to let our community carry this burden alone. We cannot allow fear-based policies to define our community.”
Ulster County Executive Jen Metzger added her voice saying, “I am strongly opposed to any ICE detention facility in the Hudson Valley. The brutality and violence we are routinely seeing in this country under the guise of immigration enforcement must stop.”
Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus, a Republican, expressed concern that “an ICE facility will create chaos and will tax our emergency management and first responders.”
Victor Cueva of the Ulster Immigrant Defense Network said, “Detention centers are places where there have been reported inhumane conditions for immigrants, and many reported deaths. We do not support the continued dehumanization of community members through ICE enforcement actions and detention.”
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Peter Katzpkatz@westfairinc.com
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