The New Jersey attorney general’s office says it is “carefully reviewing” a claim that the U.S Immigration and Enforcement agency is illegally detaining immigrants at a warehouse facility in Roxbury, New Jersey.
A New Jersey activist coalition, known as Project No ICE North Jersey Alliance, told Gothamist it sent a letter to New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport’s office on Friday alleging ICE is in violation of a May court order forbidding it from detaining people at the North Jersey facility.
“ We thought we had strong enough evidence to show at least one instance where the only logical conclusion is that the detainee was brought to Roxbury, was held for a period of time, and then was transferred from there [to another facility],” David Broderick, attorney for Project NINJA, told Gothamist Monday.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the claim.
“If ICE tries to convert the Roxbury warehouse site into a detention facility, it would violate a court order. We are carefully reviewing reports of ICE activity at the warehouse and will take all necessary steps to address any non-compliance with a court order,” said Michael Symons, spokesperson for Davenport’s office.
The 470,000 square foot warehouse in Roxbury became a national flashpoint earlier this year after Gothamist first reported that the Trump Administration had bought the facility from Goldman Sachs and a partner to turn it into a 1,500-person detention center. The administration’s plans set off a local uproar against the facility, including by the all-Republican Roxbury town council. In March, the Sherrill administration sued DHS claiming that it violated numerous federal laws by pursuing the facility in Roxbury.
In a written statement, Gov. Mikie Sherrill said her administration's lawsuit stopped the facility from moving foward.
"Now, they appear to be conducting operations in this very facility that is unfit to hold people. This is one bad decision after another to chase their illegal plan for a detention facility in a logistics center for packages, not people. My administration will get to the bottom of this and continue to hold ICE accountable," Sherrill said.
Anne Mauro, vice chair of the Roxbury Democrats, said her organization has seen videos, photos and heard testimony from individuals purporting that ICE is using the facility to detain individuals.
“At this time, we feel it’s important that there should be a site visit by our officials on the federal level – to find out exactly what’s happening inside,” Mauro told Gothamist.
In response, Rep. Analilia Mejia, who represents the neighboring 11th district, said she is working with state and local officials to get inside the facility and determine what is happening there.
“I am demanding immediate answers from ICE and DHS,” she said in a statement to Gothamist. “If DHS thinks it can secretly turn this warehouse into part of its detention machine and dare New Jersey to find out, they picked the wrong state to mess with.”
Roxbury township sits in New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District – home of the state’s most hotly contested midterm race this fall. Earlier this year, incumbent Republican Tom Kean Jr. was criticized by members of his own party on Roxbury's town council for not responding to their pleas for help in resisting the ICE facility. Kean’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment on claims that ICE is bringing detainees to the facility.
Carly Jones, campaign spokesperson for Kean’s opponent, Democrat Rebecca Bennett, was critical of Kean’s silence on the issue.
“Rebecca will continue to stand with the Roxbury community and the Republican-led Township Council in opposing this facility,” Jones said. “When Roxbury asked for help, Tom Kean Jr. was nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, Rebecca will continue to work with the community and put New Jerseyans first.”
The Sherrill and Trump administrations reached an agreement in May to pause the facility's planned conversion pending an environmental review. The agreement said that DHS would be allowed to retrofit the property with security cameras and lighting, change the locks and put temporary fencing around the site. But the May order stated that the Trump administration would not “undertake any activities” except those outlined in the order.
“ Looking back, I'd say one major flaw in that order was there was absolutely no discussion of how their compliance would be monitored. There was no monitoring,” Broderick said.
Broderick and another organizer with the group, Jenny Garcia, said Project NINJA received confirmation on Friday from the attorney general’s office that it is “actively reviewing” the group’s claims.
Broderick said that, since the agreement in May, activists have periodically monitored traffic in and out of the facility off of Route 46 in Roxbury. In the early morning hours of September 4, members of the group saw on social media and heard through local family and friend contacts that ICE was arresting people in Dover, New Jersey, about five miles east of Roxbury.
Garcia, a longtime immigration activist with the nonprofit Cosecha, told Gothamist that observers in Dover documented the license plates, along with the makes and models of multiple vehicles conducting the arrests. She said that others in Roxbury staked out at the entrance of the warehouse facility observed the same vehicles entering and exiting the property shortly thereafter.
Broderick said the activists’ observations are documented in the letter sent to the attorney general’s office, along with photos of the vehicles taken by observers. He said the group is not making the letter public until it receives a more “substantive” response from the attorney general.
Roxbury leaders have remained vehemently opposed to the ICE facility in their town. Republican Mayor Shawn Potillo previously praised Democrat Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s administration for fighting back against the Trump administration in court. And the local township council has joined that lawsuit against the Trump administration.
But some locals have recently grown frustrated with how Roxbury officials have managed the situation.
At a Sept. 8 township council meeting, local activist Cas Saladino, a Hopatcong resident, asked about the alleged detention activity at the Roxbury site and whether it was permitted while the Sherrill administration’s lawsuit against the federal government plays out in court.
“Is ICE permitted to bring undocumented individuals inside the facility to hold for any period of time?,” Saladino asked during the public comment period.
“We have no way to know that they’re doing, what you’re accusing them of. We’re assuming they aren’t,” Mayor Shawn Potillo responded.
In a response to Gothamist, Potillo said township officials are continuing to monitor developments at the site.
"I cannot discuss this specific situation, due to the ongoing lawsuit," he said in a written statement. "We will continue to use every legal and political avenue available to us to protect the people, property and resources of Roxbury Township."
This story has been udpated with statements from New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, Rep. Analilia Mejia and Roxbury Mayor Shawn Potillo.
