NJ investigates reports ICE is using Roxbury warehouse to transfer detainees

✅Reports ICE used the Roxbury warehouse to hold a detainee are under investigation

✅The report involves a person detained on Sept. 4, according to an activist group.

✅A new court filing says ICE still has no timeline for the facility's future

ROXBURY — The New Jersey Attorney General's Office is investigating reports that an ICE warehouse in Roxbury is being used to temporarily hold and transfer detainees, despite restrictions on how the property can be used.

The facility's future is tied up in a lawsuit filed by the state of New Jersey to stop the project. ICE, the state and Roxbury Township have agreed to a "joint stipulation" that requires an environmental review of the property along Route 46 under the National Environmental Policy Act.

According to the group No ICE in North Jersey Alliance (NINJA), two residents told Dover Town Council member Sandra Wittner that one of seven people detained by ICE on Sept. 4 was temporarily taken to the Roxbury facility. The person was then taken to Delaney Hall in Newark.

The Attorney General's Office says it is reviewing the reports.

"If ICE tries to convert the Roxbury warehouse site into a detention facility, it would violate a court order. We are carefully reviewing reports of ICE activity at the warehouse and will take all necessary steps to address any non-compliance with a court order," a spokesperson for the Attorney General's Office said.

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Roxbury warehouse bought by ICE for detention center

Reports raise new questions about ICE activity

NINJA said there are photos and video taken by another group from a truck stop across the highway from the Roxbury facility showing increased ICE activity.

The group says the reported use of the warehouse involves a detainee who was temporarily taken to the property before being transferred to Delaney Hall in Newark.

ICE is currently allowed to perform only basic property maintenance on the facility. The Department of Homeland Security paid $129 million for the 470,000-square-foot facility under former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

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Roxbury warehouse bought by ICE for detention center -

ICE still hasn't decided the warehouse's future

A Joint Status Report filed Tuesday in federal court said ICE is still assessing its future plans for the Roxbury facility, with no deadline to reach a decision.

The facility was purchased as a possible detention center, but the state of New Jersey and Roxbury Township sued to stop the project. The parties later agreed to a joint stipulation requiring an environmental review while the case continues.

For now, the latest reports of activity at the property are being reviewed by the Attorney General's Office as the legal fight over the Roxbury warehouse continues.

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