ICE to open detention facility in Roxbury Township, N.J., despite fierce objections

Despite unanimous opposition from the mayor of Roxbury Township, New Jersey, and its town council, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will eventually open a detention center in town.

In a statement Friday, the mayor confirmed ICE closed on a warehouse owned by Delfen Industrial on Route 46.

"Let us be clear: Roxbury Township will not passively accept this outcome. The Township Council and our legal team have been preparing to pursue all available legal remedies. We are ready to challenge this matter in court and will act swiftly and aggressively to stop the development of a detention center in Roxbury Township," Mayor Shawn Potillo and the town council wrote, in part. "We must reiterate in the strongest possible terms that this property is not an appropriate location for a facility of this nature in a suburban community and is an unapproved use. Its placement within a residential area, combined with significant limitations in water and sewer infrastructure, should have been immediate and disqualifying considerations."

• Read more: Possible ICE detention center in Orange County, N.Y., has residents concerned. Here's what we know.

Detention facility will bring 1,300 jobs, ICE says

ICE provided a lot of details about its New Jersey property in the following statement:

"ICE purchased a facility in Roxbury, New Jersey. These will not be warehouses -- they will be very well-structured detention facilities meeting our regular detention standards. Every day, DHS is conducting law enforcement activities across the country to keep Americans safe. It should not come as news that ICE will be making arrests in states across the U.S. and is actively working to expand detention space. Sites will undergo community impact studies and a rigorous due diligence process to make sure there is no hardship on local utilities or infrastructure prior to purchase. The Roxbury facility and its construction are expected to bring 1,300 jobs to the area and would contribute $161.2 million to GDP. It's also projected to bring in more than $39.2 million in tax revenue.

"These economic benefits don't even take into account that removing criminals from the streets makes communities safer for business owners and customers. ICE is targeting criminal illegal aliens including murderers, rapists, pedophiles, gang members and more. 70% of ICE arrests are of illegal aliens charged or convicted of a crime in the U.S. Thanks to the One Big Beautiful Bill, ICE has new funding to expand detention space to keep these criminals off American streets before they are removed for good from our communities.

"This agency doesn't just lack oversight, it lacks conscience"

U.S. Sen. Cory Booker and other Democratic lawmakers have joined the Morris County town in pushing back on the potential sale for weeks. Booker took to social media on Friday to denounce the move, saying, "It betrays everything this community stands for and then hands them the bill."

Booker said he toured the warehouse and met with local leaders and residents, and said opposition to a detention center is overwhelming.

"This is wrong morally, fiscally, and for the safety of this community," Booker wrote, adding, "ICE has ignored every concern. The agency also ignored multiple requests from my office to coordinate a meeting for township leaders to express these concerns. This agency doesn't just lack oversight, it lacks conscience."

The Roxbury Town Council previously passed a unanimous resolution, opposing the use of the warehouse as an ICE facility. The city says it will pursue all available legal action to stop the move.

Roxbury residents still smarting from recent ICE-involved shooting

Earlier this month, a public meeting was held in Roxbury Township after shots were fired during an ICE operation. Dozens of people packed two rooms and spoke out against the agency.

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said ICE was conducting a targeted enforcement to make an arrest, but said the suspect to evade arrest, rammed into a law enforcement vehicle, and attempted to run over an officer.

DHS released a statement saying the agent "defensively used his firearm and shot out the tires of the vehicle to stop the threat."

At the town meeting, several residents said they have a hard time taking ICE at its word.

"I wish I could say that I believed our government officials, but I no longer do, because we heard these same things with Renee Good and with Alex Pretti in Minnesota and they're not true," resident Diana May said.