The Orange County legislature voted to urge the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement to cease plans for a potential facility in the Town of Newburgh at 800 Corporate Blvd., where a warehouse lease was reported in July.
All 14 members present voted “yes” to support the motion and express their opposition at the Aug. 6 evening session, which was streamed live on the county’s YouTube page. Seven legislators were absent.
Before the vote, Chairwoman Laurie Tautel addressed the limits of county powers by home rule and the scope of the recently passed Local Cops, Local Crimes Act, which bars local governments from entering into contracts with the federal government in pursuit of immigration enforcement.
“But when it comes to private entities,” Tautel said, “the law requires only that local governments give the public at least 180 days’ notice and hold at least two public hearings before issuing a zoning variance or permit for the reuse of an existing building by a private entity such as an immigration facility.”
Moratoriums on ICE facilities could not be issued due to constitutional issues, said Tautel, as she cited the higher authority of the Newburgh town government in the matter. The county also does not have jurisdiction to dictate management of infrastructure and local resources like sewage or water within municipalities.
Legislator Peter Tuohy supported the resolution, citing inadequate accessibility and infrastructural issues at the proposed processing site in Newburgh, but when he added that he also supported ICE agencies across the nation, voices were raised in the chamber.
“I gave you respect when you spoke,” Tuohy said. “Due to the fact that millions of, millions upon millions upon millions of non-citizen foreigners cross the U.S. borders completely unchecked and unvetted over a four-year period, which is, it’s actually illegal and against the law. Imagine that. And facts are facts.”
Legislator Genesis Ramos cited the recent Maine and Texas fatal shootings by ICE of two fathers and concerns about officer training.
“American citizens are being killed in broad daylight by ICE officers,” Ramos said, “that are receiving less training, that are receiving less training than our deputy sheriffs in this town, corrections officers in this county.”
Residents weigh in on county ICE vote
Fifteen people signed up in the public comments on the microphone for 3-minute slots, most speaking against ICE. A few asked the legislature to “get creative” in efforts to thwart and frustrate ICE, to make working with ICE impossible.
“ICE is an inhumane, cruel agency,” said Michael Duffy, a member of the Mid-Hudson Valley Democratic Socialists of America and recent graduate of Cornwall Central High School.
Asking to abolish ICE, he said he does not want “to wake up one day and hear that an ICE officer has murdered an innocent person in Newburgh, Chester or my hometown of Cornwall.”
David Schwartz, of the City of Newburgh, said, “What we’re really talking about is concentration camps,” regarding processing and detention facilities.
The legislature may not have hard power, Schwartz said, but it could employ soft power. “The federal government needs to understand, we don’t want this happening here in this country and especially in this county,” he said.
A request for an update on the plans for the Newburgh lease was not immediately returned by an ICE spokesperson.
Contact reporter Vandana Saras at vsaras@usatodayco.com and @orangecountynyreporter on Instagram.
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Legislature urges ICE to abandon proposed Town of Newburgh site
Reporting by Vandana Saras, Middletown Times Herald- Record / Times Herald-Record
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Vandana Saras, Middletown Times Herald- Record | USA TODAY Network
