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Hochul Questions DHS Over Reported Secret ICE Detention Plans in Rochester, Batavia and Newburgh

She has demanded a public accounting from the Department of Homeland Security to determine whether federal actions conflict with state law and local safety concerns.

Gov. Kathy Hochul is demanding the Department of Homeland Security detail its plans and disclose the scope of three new detention facilities in New York.
Gov. Kathy Hochul rallies with immigration advocates and 1199SEIU members
Governor Kathy Hochul speaking at a podium with an American flag behind her paired with A vacant warehouse with a chain link fence, barbed wire, and several security cameras and A man with grey hair and a blue shirt at a protest, with a sign that reads "ICE detention centers are Concentration Camps making money off people's suffering" in the background.

Overview

  • Gov. Kathy Hochul sent a formal letter dated July 12 demanding that DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin disclose whether ICE is building or expanding detention capacity in Rochester, Batavia and the Town of Newburgh and to provide locations, capacity and legal authority.
  • Media and procurement records cited by the governor report plans to add detention cells in a Rochester building that houses a daycare and a federal court, to expand an overcrowded Batavia center flagged by a watchdog for detainee treatment, and to lease a Newburgh warehouse.
  • DHS and ICE have declined to confirm facility locations, saying public disclosure would heighten risks for officers and citing a sharp rise in death threats and assaults against agency personnel.
  • The dispute follows New York’s June law restricting state and local cooperation with ICE and comes as the Justice Department has sued to block parts of that law, setting up an escalating legal clash between the state and federal government.
  • Local officials and advocacy groups have held protests and raised safety and treatment concerns that could lead to more court fights and fuel political pressure on both the state and federal governments.