ICE accused of defying court order, holding immigrants in Roxbury
New Jersey's state attorney general is looking into accusations that ICE has been holding immigrant detainees at a Roxbury warehouse. That would go against a judge's order barring detention following a lawsuit by the state.
ICE is having to answer to complaints that it’s using a warehouse in Roxbury to hold and transfer immigrant detainees arrested in North Jersey. Even though a federal judge ruled the facility could not be used.
The New Jersey state Attorney General’s Office says it is carefully reviewing reports of ICE activity at the warehouse off of Route 46.
Before pushback from Gov. Mikie Sherrill and residents in Roxbury, the Department of Homeland Security wanted to build a 1,500-bed detention facility. A federal court judge followed by stating the site could not be used until an environmental study was executed.
Now a civil rights group called Project Ninja, which stand for No ICE North Jersey Alliance, has reported that some of those recently detained in the region have been held at the warehouse. Their lawyer, David Broderick, relayed the experience of one detainee.
“He had made it quite apparent to us that he had been detained brought to the Roxbury warehouse held for an hour or two and then moved to another detention facility," said Broderick.
The Department of Homeland Security bought the property for $129 million to turn it into a facility that resembles Delaney Hall in Newark.
Project Ninja fought back against transforming the site into a detention center fearing the site would be used as a base for North Jersey raids.
“There’s a large Hispanic population in Dover, Hackettstsown, Morristown, all in easy driving distance of here," said Broderick.
The Department of Homeland Security responded to questions about alleged activity in Roxbury by saying in a statement, “Due to ongoing litigation, DHS has no further comment at this time.”
