WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday fired back at Gov. Kathy Hochul after she sent a letter demanding more information about multiple immigration detention projects planned across the state, including one in Newburgh.
However, DHS did not answer questions about the alleged U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Newburgh, even when pressed. DHS has purchased a warehouse off Route 17K in the Town of Newburgh, sparking speculation that it will be used as a detention facility.
“Governor Hochul’s policies of not cooperating with ICE put New Yorkers in danger,” said Lauren Bis, acting assistant secretary for DHS. “When politicians bar local law enforcement from working with DHS, our law enforcement officers have to have a more visible presence so that we can find and apprehend the criminals let out of jails and back into communities. Instead of working with us, Governor Hochul is choosing to release violent criminals from her jails directly back into our communities to perpetrate more crimes and create more victims.”
Bis did not respond to questions about a detention facility in Newburgh.
A spokesperson for Hochul called DHS’s claims “patently false.”
“Governor Hochul has been very clear: New York will never be a sanctuary for dangerous criminals,” the spokesperson said. “We will continue working with federal authorities to target violent offenders and dangerous criminals, but we will not stand by if ICE floods our communities with agents, separates families, and turns our neighborhoods into the backdrop for a campaign of fear.”
Hochul’s spokesperson added that the state will continue to cooperate with ICE to “go after dangerous criminals,” but will not “support their aggressive attacks on hardworking New Yorkers.”
According to data from the governor’s office, more than 1,750 individuals were turned over to federal immigration authorities after serving their prison sentences in New York state between 2021 and May 2026. Hochul’s office also alleged that since January 2025, President Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security failed to take custody of approximately 20 deportable felons whom New York had notified the agency would soon be released from state prisons.
On Sunday, Hochul sent a letter to U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary (DHS) Markwayne Mullin seeking answers about three sites reportedly linked to federal immigration detention in Newburgh, Batavia and Rochester. The proposed Newburgh detention facility has drawn criticism from residents and elected officials.
Hochul’s letter also referenced President Trump’s pledge that ICE operations in New York would not be expanded unless requested by the governor.
In the letter, Hochul called for greater transparency, saying it is necessary to protect the safety and security of New Yorkers while urging DHS to scale back what she described as aggressive actions targeting law-abiding residents.
Hochul asked whether DHS is building or expanding immigration detention facilities in New York and, if so, where they are located, what their capacity will be and under what authority they are operating. She also asked whether the effort is being carried out at the direction of the federal government despite President Trump’s commitment that ICE enforcement operations in New York would not be expanded unless requested by the governor.
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