U.S. Representative Pat Ryan (D-NY) has launched a petition to oppose the federal government’s proposed use a vacant former Pep Boys warehouse in the village of Chester, New York (population 4,000) as an ICE detention and processing center.
The 400,000 sq. ft. warehouse located at 29 Elizabeth Drive in the Chester Industrial Park is reportedly owned by billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who served as Special Advisor to the President on Regulatory Reform during the first Trump administration. (The facility is owned by IEP Chester, an affiliate of Icahn Enterprises.)
Ryan, who said local leaders received no warning or information from the Trump administration about the proposal, reminded his constituents of “what happens when ICE comes into communities” and noted the death of Renee Good, the 37-year-old American who was fatally shot in the face by ICE agent Jonathan Ross on January 7 in Minneapolis.
Our community STRONGLY rejects Trump’s plan for an ICE facility in our backyard.⁰
Time to get LOUD & show the Administration what the Hudson Valley is made of.⁰
Make your voice heard. Sign the petition. We WILL win this fight. pic.twitter.com/ba82UPP1iY— Pat Ryan
(@PatRyanUC) January 15, 2026
According to Rockland County Business Journal (RCBJ): “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 RCBJ quotes Town of Chester Supervisor Brandon Holdridge as saying: “I am against any and all ICE presence in Chester, NY. The well documented abuses and illegal actions being carried out by this President’s Homeland Security have no place in our town.”
As seen below, hundreds of people attended a town meeting in Chester to oppose the plan.
More here
https://t.co/z4hLQ5HfEl | The idea that ICE is considering building a holding center at an empty warehouse in Chester had residents of the Orange County community shuddering and showing up on Monday night. pic.twitter.com/qeAT7fPeNz — Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) January 13, 2026
