Officials in a North Jersey township say the Trump administration is walking back a statement that it purchased property for a new immigrant detention facility.
“We have reached out to DHS for clarification,” Roxbury Mayor Shawn Potillo told Gothamist by text Thursday, referring to the Department of Homeland Security. “They have responded, stating that their original statement was issued without proper approval and that no facility was purchased in Roxbury.”
It wasn’t immediately clear why approval would be a point of contention if no purchase had happened at all. A message DHS sent Gothamist by email Tuesday — which Roxbury officials say was in error — had not only confirmed the supposed purchase, but also offered several details about its plans and preparation for the site.
“ICE has purchased a facility in Roxbury, NJ. These will not be warehouses — these will be very well-structured detention facilities meeting our regular detention standards,” the original email from a DHS spokesperson said.
It said that ICE sites “undergo community impact studies and a rigorous due diligence process to make sure there is no hardship on local utilities or infrastructure prior to purchase,” and that the Roxbury facility would bring 1,300 jobs to the area, contribute $161.2 million to the GDP and bring in more than $39.2 million in tax revenue.
But DHS hasn’t returned several messages from Gothamist after an article it published Wednesday — citing the original statement — set off alarm bells and confusion among Roxbury officials who said they weren’t aware of any purchase taking place. Potillo told Gothamist on Wednesday he’d also been in touch with the property’s owner, who denied that any such contract had been signed.
DHS has issued similar apparent false statements regarding other communities this week: It issued and then retracted statements about supposed warehouse purchases in Chester, New York, and Lebanon, Tennessee, according to News 12 and the Tennessee Lookout.
The federal agency has reportedly been eyeing a warehouse off Route 46 for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to use as a detention facility for months. The Washington Post first reported the plans last year. Roxbury's all-Republican Township Council last month passed a resolution opposing the plan, calling it an inappropriate use for the property.
William Angus — co-leader of the No ICE North Jersey Alliance, a group of residents opposing any such facility in Roxbury — said DHS's seemingly erroneous statement and Gothamist's coverage of it had people "pretty freaked out."
"We spent all of yesterday trying to ascertain what was true and not true," Angus said Thursday. "We are thankful that its not true, but it did spur us to think about the day that it does happen."
After the original DHS statement, Sen. Cory Booker, a Democrat, said ICE detention facilities have no place in New Jersey.
“ICE’s most recent reported purchase of a warehouse in Roxbury to use as a detention center is an affront to the Roxbury community, who resoundingly rejected the prospect of a facility weeks ago,” Booker said. “This will not be the last word from Roxbury or New Jersey.”
Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s office was also evaluating its options to block a detention facility in Roxbury, spokesperson Sean Higgins said.
Rep. Tom Kean Jr., the Republican who represents Roxbury in Congress, did not respond to a request for comment. Two Republican state lawmakers representing Roxbury in Trenton — Assemblymembers Dawn Fantasia and Mike Inganamort — expressed concerns on social media about the potential infrastructure impacts of opening a detention facility in the township.
Angus said the residents' group plans to keep up the pressure as well.
"We had 500 people at our protest on Monday, and if we have to bring 1,000 to the next one, that's what we're going to do," he said.
This story has been updated with new information.
