Figueroa, supporters, at site of the former county jail in Goshen

GOSHEN – A newly formed group calling itself No Homeland Detention in Orange County (NOHDOC), Thursday said it opposed Orange County’s new arrangement with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement where the county will house detainees in the Orange County Jail.

Group spokesman George Figueroa said the county legislature should have been appraised of the plan and the public should have been provided an opportunity to speak out on it, before County Executive Edward Diana signed the agreement.

Figueroa said the county is not going to make the millions it says it will when corrections officer overtime is factored in and he called on Diana to cancel the deal before it begins.

But, Sheriff Carl DuBois said county legislators were, in fact, briefed about the plan.

“One of the biggest complaints I hear out there every day is, 'what are you doing about my taxes'," he said. "If this revenue stream can lower taxes, whether it be pennies on the dollar or a couple of dollars on $1,000, then I can say I’ve done my job. People don’t want the county executive or me sitting on our hands not doing anything.”

Figueroa, who is also concerned about possible human rights violations, said they will do what they feel is necessary to oppose the temporary housing of federal detainees.

“Counsel to NOHDOC is Michael Sussman, and certainly nothing is off the table. Everything will be under consideration,” he said. “We hope this can be resolved through the legislature’s initiatives and through public pressure, hopefully.”

DuBois said the program will be run on a trial basis with nothing carved in stone.