EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was updated to include comment from Assemblyman Brian Maher’s Chief of Staff Meghan Hurlburt.
Opposition to a proposed warehouse purchase by the Department of Homeland Security to be rehabilitated for ICE operations in the village of Chester grows as area residents and local elected officials plan more protests and initiatives.
An undated DHS page states that a warehouse property at 29 Elizabeth Drive, Chester, was under plans for purchase and rehabilitation as an ICE facility. The public was asked to email comments regarding the project at icesustainability@ice.dhs.gov until Jan. 16.
Area residents objected at a town of Chester meeting on Jan. 14, after another recent protest attended by hundreds at a Chester village board meeting.
The speakers at the town meeting varied from a Woodbury high school student to an 86-year-old Newburgh resident.
Others came from Chester, Beacon, Warwick, Goshen, Wallkill and elsewhere. Urging the town to block an ICE facility in Chester, people referred to ICE officials and operations as “masked thugs,” “Auschwitz,” “reprehensible behavior” and “shredding of human rights.”
Brandon Holdridge, town of Chester Supervisor, said the town did not have jurisdiction over the proposed Elizabeth Drive facility and federal authority may be able to bypass some provisions.
He cited ICE custody deaths, sexual abuse and shootings as reasons he is against it.
“I don’t want any of that happening here in Chester,” Holdridge said. “Less important but still relevant to the conversation, the disruption to our social and economic life is not worth whatever potential benefit someone out there might be thinking of.”
Other elected officials react
Village of Chester Mayor John Bell said at the recent board meeting that the federal government had neither communicated with his office nor submitted an application related to the project.
Congressman Pat Ryan launched a Hudson Valley petition on Jan. 13 urging residents to oppose the ICE operations in Chester, citing a lack of cooperation by the federal government and “the horrific murder of an American citizen by ICE in Minnesota.”
Acknowledging constituent divide regarding immigration, Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus said in a Facebook video on Jan. 14 that he planned to file a formal objection to the ICE plan, writing, “What’s happening out in the Midwest is just a disaster,” which he did not want in the county.
Assemblyman Brian Maher’s Chief of Staff, Meghan Hurlburt said via email, “The infrastructure was not meant to support such a facility and regardless of political affiliation, the local community does not want it. As a taxpayer and state representative, the Assemblyman also feels there are far more cost-effective ways to achieve the goal of housing individuals who are in our country illegally, utilizing existing local, state and federal facilities.”
Residents’ reaction divided on social media
Video coverage of the village meeting protest drew hundreds of divided, sharp reactions and comments on Facebook.
People wrote in support of the protests, and in stark contrast, fully backing ICE operations.
What is planned?
“People are not packages” rally and press conference are planned for Saturday, Jan. 17 at 3:30 p.m. at Chester Town Commons Park on 77 Laroe Road in Chester.
The event is expected to be attended by Rural and Migrant Ministry, Indivisible chapters, elected officials and residents.
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Opposition mounts against Chester ICE facility plans, rally planned
Reporting by Vandana Saras, Middletown Times Herald- Record / Times Herald-Record
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