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ICE currently detains our fellow New Yorkers at Orange County Jail in Goshen, NY. The Orange County Legislature provides oversight and can put pressure on the County Executive to end the contract.
"In 2024, Orange County budgeted $74.6 million for its jail, exceeding County budgets for education, public health, mental health, and economic development combined. With an average daily jail census ranging from 307-413 in recent years, the government expends more than $400 per incarcerated person per day, more than triple the average local income. In a County where 13% of residents earn less than $25,000 per year, local needs for healthcare and public services can be expected to sharply increase as federal cuts to Medicaid, nutrition assistance, and public health programs take effect. Orange County does not publish revenues received from ICE or other state and federal agencies and programs." (New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, Denied Care Denied Dignity)
The Dignity Not Detention campaign is urging Orange County officials to do whatever they can to prevent the federal government from purchasing a warehouse in the Village of Chester for use as a "mega detention center" -- effectively, a concentration camp -- and to end the county's existing detention contract with ICE at Orange County Jail in Goshen. Use the scripts below to contact members of the County Executive, the County Legislator, and key private companies.
Learn more:
OC Executive
OC Executive
Steven M. Neuhaus
Steve Neuhaus is the Orange County Executive.
Phone: 845-291-2700, ext. 3255
Email: ceoffice@orangecountygov.com
Email: SNeuhaus73@aol.com
Phone & Email Script:
My name is ___ and I am reaching out as a fellow New Yorker due to my concern about ICE detention in Orange County. [If you are from Orange County or have any connections to it, please mention that.]
I appreciate County Executive Neuhaus’s recent opposition to the proposed "mega detention center" in Chester and his leadership on this issue as the child of immigrants. At the same time, however, it is equally urgent to end the ICE detention contract at Orange County Jail.
Orange County Jail's contract with ICE enables the agency to transfer our community members to detention centers across the country, in addition to exposing our family and friends in detention to horrific conditions and treatment. The county should not be making money off of the violence of immigration detention.
You have the power to stop the county’s complicity in ICE’s violence. Will you end the ICE detention contract now?
OC Legislators
OC Legislators
Genesis Ramos is an Orange County legislator representing the City and Town of Newburgh. She is currently the Democratic Leader of the Orange County Legislature and previously served on the Public Safety and Emergency Services Committee, which provides oversight of Orange County Jail.
Phone: 845-291-4800
Direct: 845-806-1021
Email: GRamos@orangecountygov.com
Phone & Email Script:
My name is ___ and I am reaching out as a fellow New Yorker due to my concern about ICE detention in Orange County. [If you are from Orange County or have any connections to it, be sure to mention that.]
I appreciate your continued opposition to the proposed "mega detention center" in Chester and your leadership in the county legislature passing a resolution to oppose it.
As long as ICE detention continues at Orange County Jail, the county remains implicated in ICE’s horrific violence. The ICE contract at Orange County Jail allows ICE to transfer our community members to detention centers across the country, in addition to exposing our family and friends in detention to horrific conditions and treatment which is longterm and well documented. The county should not be making money off of the violence of immigration detention.
It's time to take the next step. Will you introduce a resolution calling on Orange County executive Steve Neuhaus to end the county jail's contract with ICE and ban any new detention centers in Orange County?
Will you also use your position as Democratic Leader to have the legislature pass a resolution in support of New York State passing Dignity Not Detention (A4181/S316) which would permanently end detention contracts between counties like Orange County and ICE?
Laurie Tautel is chairwoman of the Orange County Legislature and a Democrat. She represents the towns of Cornwall, Highlands, Monroe, and Woodbury.
Phone: 845-281-4840
Email: ltautel@orangecountygov.com
Phone & Email Script:
My name is ___ and I am reaching out as a fellow New Yorker due to my concern about ICE detention in Orange County. [If you are from Orange County or have any connections to it, be sure to mention that]
I appreciate your continued strong opposition to the proposed "mega detention center" in Chester and that the legislature passed a resolution to oppose it.
As long as ICE detention continues at Orange County Jail, the county remains implicated in ICE’s horrific violence. The ICE contract at Orange County Jail allows ICE to transfer our community members to detention centers across the country, in addition to exposing our family and friends in detention to horrific conditions and treatment which is long-term and well documented. The county should not be making money off of the violence of immigration detention.
You can use your position as a leader in the county to pressure the County Executive to end the ICE detention contract. Will you?
Will you also work to have the legislature pass a resolution in support of New York State passing Dignity Not Detention (A4181/S316), which would permanently end detention contracts between counties like Orange County and ICE?
Matt Fascaldi is a newly elected Orange County legislator, representing the Town of New Windsor. Fascaldi is a Democrat and a member of the Working Families Party. He is currently the chair of the Public Safety and Emergency Services Committee, which provides oversight of Orange County Jail.
Phone: 845-916-5422
Phone & Email Script:
My name is ___ and I am reaching out as a fellow New Yorker due to my concern about ICE detention at Orange County Jail. [If you are from Orange County or have any connections to it, be sure to mention that.]
I appreciate your willingness to hear out our concerns about ICE detention at Orange County Jail. I firmly believe that the county should not be making money off of the violence of immigration detention. The ICE contract at Orange County Jail enables ICE to transfer our community members to detention centers across the country, in addition to exposing our family and friends in detention to horrific conditions and treatment which is longterm and well documented.
You can use your position as a leader in the county to pressure the County Executive to end the ICE detention contract. What steps will you take to do so?
Will you also work to have the legislature pass a resolution in support of New York State passing Dignity Not Detention (A4181/S316) which would permanently end detention contracts between counties like Orange County and ICE?
Jonathan Redeker is a Democratic member of the Orange County legislature who recently visited Orange County Jail and posted this. He represents the town of Goshen, village of Florida and part of the Town of Warwick.
Phone: 845-291-4800
Email: jredeker@orangecountygov.com
Phone & Email Script:
My name is ___ and I am reaching out as a fellow New Yorker due to my concern about ICE detention in Orange County Jail. [If you are from Orange County or have any connections to it, please mention that.]
I appreciate that you recently visited Orange County Jail. However, I am concerned about your failure to acknowledge the long-term and well-documented horrific conditions for individuals in ICE detention at the jail. OCJ is one of the nation’s worst immigration detention centers, highlighted by reporting on complaints to DHS’s Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. People in ICE detention and their attorneys report inedible food, unsanitary conditions, abusive treatment from guards, and access to counsel issues.
Please continue to investigate conditions for ICE detainees in OCJ and use your position to urge the county to end its complicity in ICE's violence by ending the detention contract at OCJ.
Private Companies
Private Companies
Cushman & Wakefield Inc. and the Pyramid Brokerage Company are two private companies that play a key role in helping the federal government open a privately owned detention center at a warehouse in the Village of Chester. Call them and tell them to stop!
Pyramid Brokerage Company
Pyramid Brokerage Company
Robert Scherreik, Executive Managing Director and Real Estate Broker
Phone: 845-787-1373
Email: rsherreick@pyramidbrokerage.com
James Desimone, Sales Manager & Associate Real Estate Broker
Phone: 845-596-9092
Email: jdesimone@pyramidbrokerage.com
Cushman & Wakefield
Cushman & Wakefield
Stephen Sander, Executive Director
Phone: 973-951-6579
Email: stephen.sander@cushwake.com
Jules Nissim, Vice Chair
Phone: 201-460-3384
Email: jules.nissim@cushwake.com
Stan Danzig, Vice Chair
Phone: 201-460-3388
Email: stan.danzig@cushwake.com
Sample Phone/Email Script:
Hello, I am [name] and I live in [city/county]. [If you are from Orange County or have any connections to it, please mention that.]
I am outraged at the proposal to turn the Pep Boys warehouse at 29 Elizabeth Drive into a detention center and am reaching out to you as a company that has the power to stop this deal from happening. I implore you not to take part in selling or leasing the warehouse at 29 Elizabeth Drive to DHS, or any other property in our community.
DHS is unlawfully abducting residents of Orange County and terrorizing our country. We need a safe and sane approach to immigration in the US, not lawless, indefinite warehousing of human beings. Please help put a stop to these activities in our community. Furthermore, profiting from the sale of a property to create a detention center will have real, long term reputational risk for your firm.
Will you refuse to sell or lease 29 Elizabeth Drive to the federal government for use as a concentration camp?
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