In defiance of a federal court order, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have been using a Roxbury warehouse to process immigrants they’ve detained in Morris County.
The Department of Homeland Security has admitted to using the facility off of Route 46 in Roxbury on two occasions in September following the arrests of 14 people in Dover Township.
With this new information, members of Congress and the Roxbury Township Council want to perform an inspection of the warehouse.
Homeland Security bought the property for $129 million, but was ordered by a judge to not use the property until an environmental study was finished.
“The consent order bars any ICE activity on the premises, which includes the warehouse, the parking lot, the woods surrounding it, the driveway," said David Broderick, an attorney for Project Ninja, which stands for "No ICE North Jersey Alliance."
So, what comes next?
"The claim they won’t bring anybody else by way of detention to the facility, I don’t know if we can take them at their word or not, but they also seem to indicate the training will continue, which will be an ongoing violation," said Broderick.
It is likely the judge overseeing this case will issue sanctions.
As for the 14 detained at the warehouse in September, some have been released. Others are at Delaney Hall in Newark. The location of some of those immigrants remains unknown.