Gov. Kathy Hochul raged against federal Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin in a letter penned to the federal agency over apparent secret immigration detention cells planned for New York State.
The letter, which was dated July 12, took Mullin to task for failing to inform the governor’s office of plans to create additional immigration detention areas in upstate Rochester, Batavia, and Newburgh. She railed that her constituents learned of the intentions through news reports.
“Over the past several weeks, New Yorkers have learned about three separate federal immigration detention projects planned for our state. But they didn’t hear about them from your administration. They learned from press reports and procurement records uncovered after the fact,” Hochul wrote. “You have repeatedly promised to coordinate with local communities. That’s not what’s happening.”
In the letter, Hochul laments that she says DHS intends to install immigration detention in a Rochester building that houses a daycare and a federal court, while in Batavia, the agency wants to expand jails already in place. Finally, in Newburgh, the administration has reportedly signed an agreement to lease a warehouse for use as a detention facility.
A heavily armed ICE agent outside Delaney Hall in New Jersey.Photo by Dean Moses
Hochul also wrote that while she has and is willing to cooperate with the federal Justice Department on criminal matters, she pushed back against what she sees as attacks on non-criminals.
“So I ask: is your Department building or expanding immigration detention facilities in New York? If so, where, to what capacity, and under what authority? And is this being done at your direction despite President Trump’s commitment that ICE enforcement operations in New York would not be expanded unless requested by the Governor?” Hochul asked. “New Yorkers, like all Americans, deserve honest answers about what their federal government is doing in their communities. And I demand your department provide that transparency.”
This comes during a time when tensions between the public and ICE are at an all-time high. Over the weekend, locals protested the parking garage at Pier 40 for allowing ICE vehicles to park in its lot while demonstrations continued outside Delaney Hall.
Meanwhile, in other parts of the country, published reports indicate that ICE shot and killed a person in Biddeford, ME, on Monday morning, days after a Houston man was similarly fatally gunned down.
amNewYork reached out to DHS for comment and is awaiting a response.