Editor's Note: After this story published, Roxbury municipal officials said they received confirmation from the Department of Homeland Security that it has not purchased a facility in the community, and that DHS's original statement describing a purchase was false.
The Department of Homeland Security says ICE has purchased a warehouse property in Roxbury, New Jersey, to use for future immigrant detention facilities. But township officials say they’re blindsided by the news — and told by the facility’s owner no such deal has happened.
“We have reached out to DHS for clarification, but have not received a response at this time,” Mayor Shawn Potillo said in a statement provided to Gothamist. He said the warehouse owners told him on Wednesday that no contract is in place with any prospective buyer.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson on Tuesday declined to provide specific details on the property in Morris County, including the address, how much it cost to buy and how many people ICE plans to detain there.
But the move is a significant development in the ongoing saga around the agency’s intended expansion in North Jersey and comes amid community opposition to ICE opening up detention facilities in the area.
In a statement, the DHS spokesperson said the property would house "very well-structured detention facilities meeting our regular detention standards." The project would create 1,300 jobs and more than $39 million in tax revenue, the spokesperson added.
DHS hasn’t yet returned a message on Wednesday seeking further clarification about the seemingly contradictory information Potillo received. Also on Wednesday, ICE retracted a statement that it had purchased a facility in Chester, New York — calling its confirmation of that purchase a “mistake,” News 12 reported.
Township Manager J.J. Murphy said DHS has repeatedly failed to respond to Roxbury officials’ inquiries about a potential purchase of municipal property.
U.S. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, on Wednesday condemned DHS’ announcement, calling it “an affront to the Roxbury community who resoundingly rejected the prospect of a facility weeks ago.”
“I joined them in this call, expressing my clear and unequivocal opposition to the construction, conversion or opening of any more immigration detention centers in New Jersey,” he said in a statement. “These facilities have no place in our communities.”
Sean Higgins, spokesperson for Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill, said the governor’s office is evaluating “all of our options to prevent” an ICE detention facility in Roxbury.
“We are working to gather more information as the Department of Homeland Security has failed to cooperate with local officials or provide any meaningful information about the facility,” he said. “This is not a partisan issue, and Gov. Sherrill shares the serious concerns of the Roxbury community – including the Republican members of the town council who voted unanimously in opposition to this facility.”
Township leaders last month unanimously passed a resolution condemning the potential opening of an ICE detention center in Roxbury.
The move came after the Washington Post reported a 470,000-square-foot warehouse for sale off Route 46 in Roxbury was on a list of facilities the federal government was considering for a future detention center, but it is unclear if this is the property in the acquisition DHS has announced.
Roxbury's all-Republican Council voted 7-0 to pass a resolution proclaiming the location was not appropriate for such a use.
Residents and local anti-ICE activists have since pushed for Roxbury's government to do more to block the agency’s planned expansion.
At two township committee meetings following the Post's report, opponents of the plans advocated for rezoning the warehouse property to prohibit any sort of prison facility there. Township Councilmember Jim Rilee told NJ.com the warehouse is just a few years old and has been vacant since it was built.
The warehouse is owned by Dalfen Industrial, a Dallas-based real estate firm, according to the company’s website. The company did not respond when asked to confirm or deny whether ICE purchased the property. Roxbury officials said Wednesday they’ve reached out to Dalfen for more information.
During a Feb. 10 township council meeting, members of the governing body said the warehouse’s owners told them the property was still being “actively marketed” for sale.
At the same meeting, Township Attorney Anthony Bucco — who is also New Jersey’s top Republican lawmaker as state Senate minority leader — laid out the limitations that Roxbury officials faced with regard to the property.
He said adopting the zoning proposed by several concerned citizens to make a detention facility a “nonpermitted use” at the location would have “no impact” if the federal government decided to purchase the Dalfen warehouse and develop it as a detention facility.
“I continue along with attorneys in my office to review this situation as it develops, and we continue to look for ways, if it does come to be, that a contract gets entered into that we can go forward to make sure that the public health, safety and welfare of everyone is protected,” he said at the meeting. “And right now that includes looking at the available infrastructure that would be needed to service one of these facilities.”
Bucco and his Senate office did not respond to a request to discuss the DHS statement about the ICE purchase.
Mike Inganamort and Dawn Fantasia, Republican state assemblymembers representing Roxbury, also didn’t respond to requests for comment. On social media, Fantasia has recently posted about ICE operations in Roxbury and criticized Sherrill’s executive order banning ICE actions on state property, calling the order “political malpractice.”
This story has been updated with additional information.
