ICE ‘not moving forward’ with Chester warehouse, says Assemblyman

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) told New York State Assemblyman Brian Maher that the agency is not going to move forward with purchasing the warehouse in Chester, N.Y.

The announcement came via a Friday press release from Maher’s Chief of Staff Meghan Hurlburt.

Maher, who is deployed militarily overseas, had a virtual meeting with a “senior advisor to the director of ICE” who told Maher that the former Pep Boys warehouse in Chester, N.Y. was “among dozens of sites evaluated” by an outside vendor that worked with ICE.

During the call, according to Hurlburt, Maher expressed concerns regarding the proposed location and the area’s infrastructure limitations, and “conveyed the unified bipartisan opposition from local elected officials and community members who had raised serious concerns about the site.”

After the meeting, the press release said “Assemblyman Maher received confirmation from ICE that its review process had concluded and that the agency would not be moving forward with the Chester site at this time.”

The announcement comes a week after an ICE spokesperson released – and then retracted – a statement that the agency had purchased the warehouse.

”I know Brian and trust he believes what he’s been told,” said Chester Town Supervisor Brandon Holdridge. “However, ICE has already retracted multiple statements, so I will need to see something directly from ICE before I am even close to comfortable that this is a final decision.”

The property, according to The Washington Post, was proposed to be part of a larger plan to house 80,000 individuals nationwide in warehouses that will be converted into holding facilities.