Agency buying facilities across U.S. to house detainees
A state Assembly member said on Friday (Feb. 20) that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had confirmed it will not be purchasing a former Pep Boys auto parts distribution warehouse in Chester to open a detention center.
Brian Maher, a Republican from Walden whose district includes Chester, said in a news release that ICE had told him that "its review process had concluded and that the agency would not be moving forward with the Chester site at this time."
ICE said last week it had purchased the warehouse but on Tuesday (Feb. 17) retracted the statement, saying it had been a mistake. The warehouse, a spokesperson told the Times Union on Feb. 12, "will be very well-structured detention facilities meeting our regular detention standards. Sites will undergo community impact studies and a rigorous due diligence process to make sure there is no hardship on local utilities or infrastructure prior to purchase."
On Tuesday, a spokesperson emailed the Albany paper to say that "ICE has not purchased a facility in Chester. That statement was sent without proper approval and this mistake has since been rectified."
Last week, ICE said a Chester facility and its construction would create 1,246 jobs and contribute $153.4 million, plus $37.2 million in tax revenue but did not explain how the figures were calculated.
At the same time, the Orange County clerk and the county attorney told the Times Union that no new deeds have been recorded or filed. The last sale on record was in 2021, when an LLC owned by former Trump adviser Carl Icahn bought the property.

State Sen. Michelle Hinchey, a Democrat whose district includes northern Dutchess County, said in a statement that she would support the town and village boards as they use "every legal, zoning, and environmental tool available" to block the facility.
On Friday, a document released by federal immigration officials said that ICE to spend $38.3 billion to expand its detention capacity to 92,600 beds by purchasing warehouses. ICE has bought at least seven warehouses in the past few weeks in Arizona, Georgia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Texas. Six other purchases were scuttled when buyers decided not to sell under pressure from activists.
The Department of Homeland Security in January posted a notice announcing its intention to purchase the Chester warehouse for ICE operations. The agency said it would add a small guard building and an outdoor recreation area. The notice was required because the facility is in a 100-year floodplain.
Legislation has been introduced in at least five states to ban state and local government contracts for ICE detention facilities. In New York, one proposal would prohibit governmental entities from entering into immigrant detention agreements (Jonathan Jacobson, a Democrat whose district includes Beacon, and Dana Levenberg, a Democrat whose district includes Philipstown, are co-sponsors), while another would prohibit the use of public funds or resources for new immigrant detention facilities without state legislative approval.
ICE Detention Facilities
There are 225 ICE detention facilities in the U.S., including eight in New York (below). Texas has the most facilities (28), followed by Florida (18).
Allegany County Jail (Belmont)
5 females, non-criminal
Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center
25 males, criminal; 86 males, non-criminal
Broome County Jail (Binghamton)
3 males, criminal; 44 males, non-criminal
Buffalo Service Processing Center (Batavia)
128 males, criminal; 610 males, non-criminal
Clinton County Jail (Plattsburgh)
2 males, non-criminal; 2 females, non-criminal
Nassau County Correctional Center (Long Island)
1 female, criminal; 11 females, non-criminal
Niagara County Jail (Lockport)
12 females, non-criminal
Orange County Jail (Goshen)
85 males, criminal; 81 males, non-criminal; 1 female, criminal
Source: U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement
In a little over a year, the number of detentio...

Update: ICE Says It Won't Purchase Warehouse