Feds say ICE detention center coming to Roxbury, NJ after days of contradictions

Local and federal officials now say U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has in fact purchased a property in Roxbury, New Jersey to use for detention — after days of confusing and outright contradictory statements by the Department of Homeland Security.

Roxbury Township’s all-Republican governing body said in a statement Friday it “will not passively accept this outcome” and would pursue legal remedies, citing issues including environmental constraints and infrastructure limitations.

The Washington Post first reported the possibility ICE could purchase a warehouse property in Roxbury last year, setting off opposition from local community groups and leading the Roxbury Township Council to pass a resolution last month opposing any such plan.

“Neither we nor the town will cease our efforts to prevent an ICE Detention Facility from opening in the town,” David Broderick, an attorney and member of one of the community groups, No Ice Jails in Northern NJ, said in a statement provided to Gothamist. “The battle now enters a new phase, but the battle continues."

Roxbury Mayor Shawn Potillo and the township council called the purchase “frankly stunning” in a joint statement on Friday, and said they received no coordination from federal officials.

“All of our communications to DHS on issues related to this selection as a detention center were never answered,” they said. “This community is the most impacted by this facility, yet we received absolutely no feedback from DHS."

The announcement, verified by DHS in an email to Gothamist, caps of a week of contradictions.

Tuesday, DHS told Gothamist in an emailed statement that it had purchased the property — elaborating on how the sites it selects are carefully studied, and that the Roxbury facility would bring 1,300 jobs to the area, contribute $161.2 million to the GDP and bring in more than $39.2 million in tax revenue. In response, Roxbury Mayor Shawn Potillo said local officials were blindsided, and had been told directly by warehouse owner Dalfen Industrial no such contract was signed.

Wednesday, local publication TapInto published a statement from a DHS spokesperson saying “ICE has NOT purchased a facility in Roxbury, New Jersey." Potillo told Gothamist Thursday DHS had informed the town “their original statement was issued without proper approval and that no facility was purchased in Roxbury.”

It wasn’t clear at the time why a statement would have been prepared — approved or otherwise — if no purchase was happening. DHS did not return several calls and emails from Gothamist in the days after its first statement,

Then, Friday, another about-face. DHS sent Gothamist a new message after business hours — an apparently edited version of its original statement, making all the same points and including much of the same phrasing.

Federal authorities made similar confusing and contradictory statements in other communities this week. News organizations in Chester, New York and in Tennessee reported ICE told them it was buying properties in those areas — only for ICE to say it had issued the statements in error.

After this story was published, Nathan Rhea with Red Banyan PR, a communications firm that was hired by Dalfen Industrial, said the company held a minority stake in the warehouse facility and that Goldman Sachs was the majority partner in the transaction. Ylan Mui, head of Public Affairs for Goldman Sachs, responded with a written statement.

“This property, which sat vacant for two years, was held in a real estate investment fund that we manage. We had a fiduciary obligation to investors in the fund to sell it,” Mui said.

Roxbury officials said they’d tried to offer “meaningful financial and political support” to the property's owners for a potential redevelopment of the site, including offers of tax abatements worth $20 million. But that “did not result in a collaborative solution that prioritized transparency or the well-being of our residents,” they said in their Friday statement.

They added that the property was inappropriate for a detention facility because of limitations in water and sewer infrastructure, and because the local fire department and EMS was not “structured to absorb the demands such a facility would impose.” And Roxbury officials project the project would cost local governments $1.8 million a year in tax revenue.

No ICE North Jersey Alliance — a coalition of community and activist organizations — said it agreed with the council's reasons for opposing the purchase. The coalition more broadly opposes ICE detention centers in North Jersey.

“Our goal remains the same, though the fight has today taken on a different dimension,” said coalition spokesperson William Angus said in a statement. “Both public protests and pressure on elected officials and involved parties will continue — because the only acceptable outcome is for the property to remain a warehouse for goods, not people.”

In response to DHS’s original statement, Sen. Cory Booker, a Democrat, said ICE detention facilities have no place in New Jersey.

“ICE’s most recent reported purchase of a warehouse in Roxbury to use as a detention center is an affront to the Roxbury community, who resoundingly rejected the prospect of a facility weeks ago,” Booker said.

Rep. Tom Kean Jr., the Republican who represents Roxbury in Congress, did not respond to requests for comment this week. Two Republican state lawmakers representing Roxbury in Trenton — Assemblymembers Dawn Fantasia and Mike Inganamort — expressed concerns on social media about the potential infrastructure impacts of opening a detention facility in the township.

The Democratic members of the state's Congressional Delegation also launched an initiative to oppose the project this week, asking residents to send them information on how a detention facility would affect their community.

“I have personally witnessed abhorrent conditions at Delaney Hall [a detention facility in Newark], and the idea that this administration wants to replicate them at an even bigger scale at warehouses not meant for human occupancy is horrific," Rep. Rob Menendez said in an accompanying statement.

This story was updated with statements from Dalfen Industrial and Goldman Sachs on their ownership of the warehouse facility and the decision to sell it to the Department of Homeland Security.