New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport’s office told a federal judge it will take legal action if the Trump administration has violated the terms of a court order forbidding ICE from detaining people at a warehouse in Roxbury, New Jersey.
The Tuesday night court filing comes one day after Gothamist reported that the state’s highest-ranking law enforcement office is investigating reports from local activists who claim to have evidence that ICE agents are bringing detainees to the facility.
North Jersey anti-ICE group Project NINJA, which stands for No Ice in North Jersey Alliance, sent a letter to Davenport’s office last week presenting photo and video footage, along with testimonials from detainees’ family members, that the group says proves ICE held at least one person to the warehouse after they were arrested by immigration agents.
Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s administration sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in federal court in March, claiming the agency violated numerous federal, state and local laws when it purchased the 470,000 square foot warehouse from Goldman Sachs and a partner as part of the Trump administration’s plans to rapidly expand detention center capacity nationwide. In May, Judge Jamel Semper issued an order outlining an agreement that DHS would not move forward with the conversion of the warehouse — beyond adding security upgrades — until further environmental review took place.
A DHS spokesperson declined to comment on the claims that ICE is violating the court order citing the ongoing litigation.
The facility in Roxbury became a national flashpoint in the debate over immigration after Gothamist first reported that the Trump administration had purchased the facility for nearly $130 million with plans of turning it into a 1,500-person detention center. The deal set-off widespread bipartisan political outcry. Roxbury’s all-Republican township council joined state Democrats in opposing the plan.
On Monday, Michael Symons, a spokesperson for the attorney general’s office, said the agency is reviewing Project NINJA’s evidence and will take “all necessary steps” to address violations of the court order.
The activist group’s letter to the attorney general states that the photos and videos are corroborated by a detainee’s daughter, who relayed the details of her father’s arrest by ICE to Sandra Wittner, a member of Dover, New Jersey's town council.
Wittner did not respond to multiple emails asking to speak with her about the alleged incident.
The letter also alleges that ICE agents reacted when they became aware that observers had stationed themselves at a truck stop across from the warehouse facility’s entrance.
“Having realized that their surreptitious illegal usage of the Roxbury Warehouse as a detention and transfer facility was being observed, ICE agents and security guards tried to intimidate the observers into leaving the scene by circling and filming them,” David Broderick, attorney for Project NINJA, wrote in the letter.
The cache of photos and video collected by the activist group includes what it said were images of ICE vehicles used in a Sept. 4 arrest of several undocumented people in Dover, New Jersey and subsequent photos and videos of the same vehicles entering and exiting the Roxbury warehouse facility later that same day. Not all of the photos and videos include clear documentation of the vehicles’ license plates.
Roxbury Township Mayor Shawn Potillo, a Republican, told Gothamist Monday that he could not comment on the claims of illegal ICE activity at the site due to the ongoing lawsuit.
"We will continue to use every legal and political avenue available to us to protect the people, property and resources of Roxbury Township,” Potillo said in a written statement.
Sherrill said that her administration intends to “get to the bottom” of what is going on at the facility and hold ICE “accountable” for any illegal behavior.
U.S. Rep. Analilia Mejia, who represents the neighboring district, told Gothamist that she is working with state officials to get inside the facility to investigate how ICE is using the warehouse.
“ICE does not get to make up the rules as it goes, and it does not get to operate with impunity in our communities,” she said.
Jenny Garcia, a New Jersey-based immigrants rights activist who helped pen the activists’ letter to the attorney general, called on officials to do more to prevent the Trump administration from converting the warehouse into a detention center.
“ I just want to emphasize that we are raising the alarm that this is a violation of the legal strategy, but ICE is violating the law all the time and there needs to be a larger uproar,” she said.
