Five days after confirming a Chester property purchase by the Department of Homeland Security, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson has withdrawn the claim.

“ICE has NOT purchased a facility in Lebanon, Tennessee or Chester, New York,” said the spokesperson in an email to the Times Herald-Record on Feb. 18. “That statement was sent without proper approval, and this mistake has since been rectified.”

The email did not elaborate any further on the current status of DHS plans to purchase the 401,746 square foot warehouse property at 29 Elizabeth Drive, located in a 100-year floodplain and housed in Chester Industrial Park.

The ICE email did repeat previous statements about active procurement and expansion of detention facilities and intent to conduct arrests across the U.S. It also included the previously sent mug shots of five immigrants and their convictions for various crimes.

“We are relieved the purchase hasn't gone through yet, but we are still preparing for the worst,” said Brandon Holdridge, Chester town supervisor. “We will continue to fight the placement of any ICE facility in Chester. Someone clearly jumped the gun from ICE and they are still going to pursue this. Their incompetence and lack of training are on full display.”

Orange County Clerk Kelly Eskew confirmed that the 29 Elizabeth Drive owner is still IEP Chester LLC, and as of 2 p.m. Feb. 18 a deed has not been recorded or received in relation to this property or to DHS and ICE in Orange County.

A recent pull from OneKeyMLS showed the property was sold in 2008 for $16,830,000 by Wachovia Dev Corp to IEP Chester LLC, a subsidiary of Icahn Enterprises that’s associated with Carl Icahn, a former advisor to President Donald Trump.

Since the news of a Chester detention facility first came out in December through Washington Post reporting, and the discovery of an ICE administrative office in New Windsor more recently, elected officials at all levels of the county have expressed frustration and anger at having received no coordination or notice from DHS.

Local leaders have indicated strong bipartisan opposition to a detention facility in Chester village, which already exceeds its sewage capacity. The Orange County legislature cast a unanimous 21-0 vote on Feb. 5 for a resolution to reject an ICE center in Chester.

Holdridge wrote a letter citing the sewage capacity, restrictive covenants, environmental impact and public safety concerns raised by the Chester ICE proposal. The letter was cosigned by 53 officials, including Democrats, Republicans and Independents.

Concerned Hudson Valley residents have converged at the Orange County legislature meeting and Chester village and town meetings, exceeding venue capacity, offering impassioned, tearful testimonies and pleas.

They have protested in groups of hundreds in subzero temperatures at Chester Commons Park and outside the New Windsor ICE office.

More: Orange County, state officials react to Chester ICE facility plan

Steve Murphy, a Goshen resident protesting in New Windsor, said he left the republican party because of his dissatisfaction with the leadership.

“ICE could work with local police, but they’re not doing that anywhere,” Murphy said. “This is not the way that U.S. should be represented or run or how people should be taken care of.”

This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Warehouse in Orange County NY not purchased by ICE, according to new statement