Roxbury, NJ warehouse lot used twice to process ICE detainees, agency tells congresswoman
In an email to Rep. Analilia Mejia, ICE officials said agents held newly arrested people in the property's parking lot on Sept. 4 and Sept. 8. A court order currently blocks any conversion of the
Twice in September, federal immigration agents took people they had just arrested to the parking lot of a warehouse property in Roxbury, New Jersey, for what ICE called “initial processing,” according to an email from agency officials to a New Jersey member of Congress.
Democratic Rep. Analilia Mejia, who represents the neighboring 11th Congressional District, received the email after requesting an oversight visit to the site. ICE officials wrote that agents used the lot on Sept. 4 and Sept. 8, and that the detainees stayed outside and never entered the warehouse building.
On Sept. 14, the head of the agency’s Newark field office for Enforcement and Removal Operations gave a verbal order to end the practice. New Jersey’s attorney general made an inquiry into the claims public that same day.
Court fight over the Roxbury ICE detention center
State officials and the Trump administration are fighting in court over federal plans to convert the property into a detention center with room for 1,500 people. Under a federal court order that White House lawyers agreed to in May, no conversion can go forward before an environmental review is completed.
The attorney general’s inquiry, opened less than a month ago, looks at whether holding detainees on the property ran afoul of that order. Should a violation be found, the state’s top law enforcement office has promised to take ICE to court.
Mejia and Gov. Sherrill respond
“Let me be clear: This was no accident,” Mejia said Tuesday. In her statement, she said ICE officers used the location deliberately, carried out processing while supervisors knew about it and stopped only after they were ordered to.
Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s office also responded. Her spokesperson, Sean Higgins, called the warehouse unfit to house people and said ICE has told the state the parking lot will not be used for processing again. He added that the governor will keep holding the agency accountable.
ICE and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Quick answers
Did ICE use the Roxbury, NJ warehouse to hold detainees?
In an email to Rep. Analilia Mejia, ICE officials said agents took detainees to the property's parking lot for initial processing on Sept. 4 and Sept. 8 and never brought them inside the warehouse.
Is the Roxbury warehouse becoming an ICE detention center?
The Trump administration wants to convert it into a detention center for 1,500 people. A federal court order agreed to in May bars any conversion until an environmental review is completed.
