The Trump administration has ditched plans to convert a Roxbury warehouse into a 1,500-bed immigration detention center, according to a court filing Monday.
The Department of Homeland Security's roughly $130 million purchase of the warehouse sparked opposition from local Republicans and New Jersey's Democratic leadership, setting off a legal fight over the proposed detention facility.
The project was put on hold after New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport and Roxbury Township sued, arguing DHS had violated federal law by moving forward without completing the environmental reviews required under the National Environmental Policy Act.
Though the Trump administration initially sought to move forward with the conversion, it agreed in May to pause most work while it conducted those environmental reviews.
A joint status report filed Monday said federal officials no longer intend to convert the warehouse into an immigration detention facility and instead plan to sell the property.
New Jersey officials called the decision "a major victory."
"This has never been a partisan case, because the plan to establish a detention center at the Roxbury warehouse was always unlawful," Gov. Mikie Sherrill and Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said in a joint statement. "Converting a warehouse for packages into a detention center for thousands of people would not only be inhumane but also have devastating local and environmental impacts—and it would not make New Jersey any safer."
Roxbury's all-Republican Township Council voted unanimously to oppose the facility, which federal officials said would hold up to 1,500 detainees and 400 staff. Local officials argued the site lacks sufficient water and sewer infrastructure and sits within the New Jersey Highlands region, which contains streams, rivers and reservoirs that supply drinking water to much of the state.
In a statement to Gothamist early Tuesday, a spokesperson for DHS said the agency will utilize existing detention space.
“From day one, DHS has remained singularly focused on removing the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens from the United States and is always evaluating the best methods to do so," the statement said.
This story has been updated with a statement from DHS.
