The New Jersey State Attorney General's Office has launched a formal review into reports that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement utilized a newly acquired warehouse in Morris County to detain immigrants. The reported activity appears to directly conflict with a court-brokered agreement that strictly prohibits the federal agency from converting the Roxbury property into a holding site until a comprehensive environmental assessment is completed.
State officials moved quickly to address the allegations after immigrant advocacy groups raised alarms about recent enforcement operations in the region. A spokesperson for New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport announced that state authorities are closely examining the reports of federal activity at the Ledgewood property. The office emphasized that any attempt by immigration authorities to convert the facility into an operational detention hub would constitute a direct violation of the existing court order, pledging to pursue all necessary legal steps to enforce compliance.
The state inquiry was prompted by a formal letter delivered to the attorney general by the No ICE in Northern Jersey Alliance, known as NINJA. The advocacy group's legal representative, David Broderick, informed state regulators that federal agents had used the Roxbury facility on September 4 to temporarily hold at least one immigrant following an early-morning enforcement sweep conducted in the nearby municipality of Dover.
According to the alliance's findings, the detained individual was brought directly to the secluded warehouse property located off Route 46 in Roxbury Township's Ledgewood section. After being processed and held briefly on the premises, the detainee was transferred out of the county to the Elizabeth Contract Detention Center in Union County.
In the letter, Broderick contended that immigration authorities are circumventing judicial restrictions by operating the property as an illicit staging ground. He asserted that federal officials are effectively operating the warehouse as a de facto transfer and holding station designed to facilitate and streamline regional enforcement raids across northern New Jersey communities.
Community volunteers tracked the movements of immigration enforcement vehicles on the morning in question. Kathleen Salgado, an alliance volunteer who lives in Andover and commutes past the property to work in Dover, reported seeing online video footage of the Dover arrests shortly before traveling along Route 46. While stopped at an intersection, Salgado identified a dark gray sport utility vehicle matching the vehicle from the raid footage, recorded a brief video of it, and subsequently observed the vehicle turning directly into the warehouse access driveway.
Local elected officials also gathered corroborating details regarding the operation. Dover Town Council Member Sandra Wittner stated that federal agents carried out a Friday morning sweep that moved through local parks and pedestrian sidewalks, resulting in the apprehension of up to seven men across the township.
Wittner reported speaking directly with the adult daughter of one of the men apprehended during the sweep. According to phone records and family statements, the detained father placed a phone call to his daughter at 8:52 a.m., explaining that he was being held inside what appeared to be a jail or prison. Advocacy leaders noted that location data linked the transport vehicle to the Roxbury warehouse grounds during that exact time window. Wittner further noted that within a week of the operation, at least one of the other men apprehended that morning had already been deported to his home country of Ecuador.
The warehouse itself remains isolated from public view and heavily guarded. Access from the Route 46 driveway is currently restricted by private security personnel and a uniformed immigration officer, preventing observers from viewing the main complex from the highway. Representatives for the federal immigration agency did not provide comment regarding the allegations or the ongoing state review.
The legal battle over the Morris County site stems from an agreement finalized on May 12 between the federal government and state and municipal leaders. Under that settlement, ICE and its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security under President Donald Trump, consented to freeze all detainee housing plans at the massive 470,0330-square-foot facility until the completion of a full environmental review mandated by the National Environmental Policy Act of 1970.
The May accord settled an initial federal lawsuit initiated on March 20 by the State of New Jersey alongside Roxbury Township. The complaint asserted that federal authorities violated two longstanding statutory frameworks: the 1970 environmental review statute signed by President Richard Nixon and the 1968 Intergovernmental Cooperation Act enacted under President Lyndon Johnson. The formal settlement was executed by Attorney General Davenport, Roxbury Township legal counsel James Bryce, and Deputy U.S. Attorney General Krysal-Rose Perez on behalf of the federal government.
Federal records indicate that the government spent $129 million over the winter to purchase the vacant industrial property. Immigration officials aimed to transform the site into New Jersey's third major detention center, complementing the privately managed facility in Elizabeth and Delaney Hall in Newark.
The prospect of establishing a facility designed to house up to 1,500 detainees on a continuous, 24-hour basis has drawn fierce resistance from township administrators, local environmental advocates, residents, and immigrant rights organizations. Opponents have repeatedly emphasized that the warehouse site possesses utility and wastewater infrastructure designed to support only a few dozen daytime industrial workers, raising severe concerns about environmental damage in a sensitive rural area.
Roxbury Mayor Shawn Potillo confirmed that local municipal officials are closely tracking ongoing developments at the property, though active litigation limits detailed public disclosures. Potillo stated that the township continues to evaluate credible reports as they arise, reaffirming Roxbury's commitment to utilizing every available legal and administrative measure to safeguard local community resources, infrastructure, and residents.
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