CHESTER – If the traffic on Kings Highway and LaRoe Road in Chester Monday night is any indication, the idea of placing an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Detention Center in village will be met with fierce opposition from local residents, in addition to many more from around Orange County and neighboring counties in the Hudson Valley.
The mood of the evening was palpable. Inside the Chester Senior Center, village officials gathered to discuss the hot-button issue to a maximum capacity audience. Outside, hundreds more gathered and braved the cold, bitter night to make sure their voices were heard.
“We’re not asking you to bring ICE, we’re asking you to reject it,” one protester shouted with a megaphone. “We’re not asking you to do anything but be human and humane in these unhuman and inhumane times. Our neighbors are afraid to leave their houses. Our neighbors are afraid to go into courthouses and be naturalized. Our neighbors are afraid and that’s not okay.”
A former Pep Boys warehouse on Elizabeth Drive has been targeted as a potential ICE site. An organizer with the group Indivisible NY said they were able to rally an estimated 750 people for the protest. That number includes individuals from Sullivan, Rockland and Westchester counties and some as far down as Long Island.
Village of Chester officials are scheduled to have a regularly scheduled board meeting Thursday, January 14th and again on January 28th.
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