As negative views of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spread across the United States, warehouses are emerging as a symbol of resistance to immigration raids.
According to the New York Times (NYT) on the 8th, after it became known that the federal government planned to house immigrants in buildings converted from existing warehouses or distribution centers, backlash has erupted from both Republicans and Democrats.
In Jan., hundreds of residents flocked to a senior center on the outskirts of the town of Chester, New York. Wrapped in puffer jackets, knit caps, and hoodies, the protesters held placards and chanted in the dark. They gathered to oppose the federal government's plan to set up an immigrant detention facility in Chester, a small city of about 4,000 people roughly 100 kilometers northwest of Manhattan.
The facility in question is a large warehouse that once served as a distribution center for the auto parts chain "Pep Boys." Federal authorities had been considering converting the building into a detention facility capable of housing up to 1,500 immigrants. But with public criticism mounting over the Trump administration's hard-line immigration enforcement stance, the plan faced a fierce backlash as soon as it was announced.
Elected officials from both the Republican and Democratic parties in the Hudson Valley spoke with one voice to criticize the plan. They warned that a large detention facility would place an excessive burden on local infrastructure and could increase the likelihood of physical clashes between federal agents and residents. Stephen Neuhaus, the Republican county executive of Orange County, said, "Every community where such a facility has been placed has seen recurring controversy, protests, and violence," adding, "This is not something a quiet community can bear."
The backlash in Chester is spreading nationwide. In the year since the Trump administration took office, attempts to convert warehouses into immigrant detention facilities have continued across the United States, and local opposition has grown in response. Aging warehouses are coming to be seen as symbols of inhumane conditions and poor accommodations, becoming places where anger at hard-line immigration policies is concentrated.
The backlash has intensified since federal agents fatally shot two protesters in Minneapolis recently. The incident has spread the moral and political debate over immigration enforcement nationwide.
The Chester detention plan has not been decided. The Department of Homeland Security and ICE have not made clear whether they will withdraw the plan. However, there are cases where similar plans have been derailed, such as in Oklahoma City, where the Republican mayor publicly supported a property owner who canceled a contract with ICE.
ICE dismissed concerns in a statement, saying, "Detention facilities will be designed to be lawful and safe." But public opinion is not easing. A recent poll found that while a majority of U.S. voters support curbing illegal immigration, they judged ICE's enforcement methods to have "gone too far." Even among Republican supporters, skepticism about hard-line enforcement appears to be spreading.
Residents who joined the Chester protest are raising issues not only with immigration policy but with the way federal power penetrates local communities. One resident said, "The problem is not immigrants but the state's choice to turn warehouses into prisons."