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State and Local Officials Receive Confirmation That ICE Not Moving Forward With Village Of Chester Warehouse Acquisition, For Now
By Tina Traster
An Orange County State Assemblyman says the federal government is not looking, for now, to site a detention center in the Village of Chester.
In a press release issued late Friday, Assemblyman Brian Maher (R,C-Walden) said he received confirmation from “a senior advisor to the director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)” that the review process of the vacant warehouse “had concluded and that the agency would not be moving forward with the Chester site at this time.”
It remains unclear as to whether “at this time” indicates that the site is still under consideration for the future, but Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus said, “I commend Assemblyman Maher, my team at the county, our bipartisan group of elected officials and all of the residents who made sure their voices were heard. We will continue to fight to make sure an ICE facility does not come to Orange County.”
A former village mayor of Walden and town supervisor of Montgomery, the Assemblyman made it clear to senior ICE officials that choosing a location close to a population center, with limited infrastructure capacity, was not something he supported.
Maher stressed the unified bipartisan voice of local elected officials who were also against putting an ICE facility in this location.
For nearly two months, residents and public officials have been rallying against the federal government’s plan to purchase the vacant 400,000 square foot PepBoys warehouse at 29 Elizabeth Drive in the Village of Chester to convert into a detention center.
The plan came to light in mid-January when Homeland Security filed a “Notice of Activity in a 100-Year Floodplain in Chester, NY,” citing its intentions: “ICE is proposing to purchase, occupy and rehabilitate a warehouse property at 29 Elizabeth Drive on nearly 36 acres in the Village of Chester in Orange County.”
The Trump administration plans to acquire and renovate eight large-scale detention centers and 16 processing sites to hold more than 92,600 immigrant detainees at a time, though pushback on some of the projects have curtailed and deep-sixed ICE’s plans. The Chester warehouse is one of the 16 processing sites that were on the list.
The agency has already made moves to acquire buildings to serve as detention centers in at least eight states, with three properties purchased just last month: one for $102 million in Maryland, another for $84 million in Pennsylvania, and a third for $70 million in Arizona.
But the Administration’s aggressive and violent immigration crackdown, including the deaths of two American citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, has stimulated widespread backlash and scrutiny against plans to expand a detention network nationwide.
Public officials responding to local protests are pushing back on ICE’s plans in Oklahoma City, Salt Lake City, Kansas City, Ashland, VA, and Elkridge, MD.
Other communities continue to resist ICE’s plans.
Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall last month sent a letter to the owner of a warehouse on the city’s west side stating that if the facility were to be used as a detention center it would be in violation of city code, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. Public officials have warned ICE a detention center will “have an enormous impact” on the area’s water supply and sewage system.
Similarly, Orange County officials at local and county levels have let ICE know that a proposed detention facility in the Village of Chester will present a raft of safety and environmental issues. Neuhaus said the business park is home to a commuter lot. Additionally, a proposed detention center will draw scores of protesters, which puts a strain on the town and county’s police force.
“I have asked (the Governor) to have the New York State Police to help my local village, town, city and sheriff’s office, all that law enforcement that’s going to be taxed with responding to large crowds – protestors, counter-protestors – and I have asked her to have the New York State Police give us all the resources available to augment the law enforcement stream. It’s going to cost thousands of dollars. I have also asked for the National Guard to be on standby,” he said.
Neuhaus said today, “I don’t think we’re out of the woods by any means.” He added, “We’re trying to make sure that doesn’t happen here in Orange County.”
The vast office park is not suitable for residential use, officials say. Additionally, Chester’s sewage system is a peak capacity. Existing zoning allows “as-of -right” wholesale, storage and warehouse facilities, manufacturing, processing, producing and fabricating operations, research laboratories, business and industrial offices.
The site is also home to federal wetlands and is designated as a FEMA Flood Plain.
The former 400,000 square-foot PepBoys Distribution Center in Chester has been shuttered since 2024. The facility is owned by IEP Chester LLC, which is an affiliate of Icahn Enterprises LLC. Carl Icahn is the founder and controlling shareholder of Icahn Enterprises, a public company and diversified conglomerate holding company based in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida. He was Special Advisor to President Trump on Regulatory Reform from Jan. to August 2017.
