U.S. paid $129.3 million for New Jersey warehouse for large-scale immigrant detention center
The move has sparked bipartisan outrage among area residents and officials.
The federal government paid $129.3 million to acquire a sprawling warehouse in Roxbury Township that officials plan to convert into an immigration detention facility capable of holding up to 1,500 people, according to public records obtained by The Jersey Vindicator.
The 470,000-square-foot warehouse property at 1879 Route 46 was sold to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Feb. 19 by DG Roxbury Property Owner LP, a Delaware limited partnership tied to Dallas-based industrial developer Dalfen Industrial and a Goldman Sachs asset management fund.
The purchase marks the largest recent federal acquisition tied to immigration enforcement and comes amid growing national scrutiny of the government’s expanding use of industrial facilities for detention.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which will operate the site, says the warehouse will meet its “regular detention standards.” Critics, including civil liberties advocates and members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation, argue the plan is both unnecessary and inhumane.
Local officials estimate Roxbury Township, Morris County, and the local school district could collectively lose about $1.8 million annually in tax revenue as a result of the federal acquisition, amounting to roughly $85 million over three decades.
The warehouse detention center proposal has drawn bipartisan opposition locally. The all-Republican Roxbury Township Council approved a resolution opposing the conversion of the warehouse into an ICE facility, and officials have raised concerns about infrastructure, including reported limits on water and sewer capacity at the site.
Word that ICE intended to establish operations in Morris County quickly ignited fierce opposition from area residents, including officials who passed resolutions and sent letters to federal authorities urging the agency to abandon the plan.
A grassroots protest movement has also gathered momentum in recent weeks. Residents and immigrant rights advocates have packed township council meetings and organized demonstrations outside the warehouse, arguing that the quiet township of roughly 23,000 residents is being transformed into a hub for federal deportation operations without meaningful local input.
The Roxbury site is part of a broader federal strategy to expand detention capacity through large industrial facilities. According to federal planning documents, detainees would be held at regional satellite sites for short periods before being transferred to larger detention complexes in states including Virginia, Texas, Louisiana, Arizona, Georgia, and Missouri.
According to a federal solicitation outlining the approach, the system is intended to “maximize efficiency, minimize costs, shorten processing times, limit lengths of stay, accelerate the removal process and promote the safety, dignity and respect for all in ICE custody.”
For critics, however, the industrial scale of the proposal has intensified fears about oversight and humane treatment. Tom Kelleher of the Mount Olive/Roxbury Visibility Brigade, a group involved in several protests near the property, said community concern extends beyond immigration politics to questions about transparency and the long-term impact on the town.
Immigration advocates say the use of industrial warehouses raises serious humanitarian concerns.
“A warehouse is no place for human beings,” said Ami Kachalia, campaign strategist for the ACLU of New Jersey. “Immigration detention is cruel and inhumane, and utilizing warehouses to detain people will undoubtedly foster the abuse, dangerous conditions, and medical neglect synonymous with these kinds of facilities.”
Kachalia added that advocates are urging state and local leaders “to ensure the rights of all New Jerseyans are safeguarded from these dangerous federal policies.”
The planned facility has also prompted a coordinated response from New Jersey’s Democratic congressional delegation, led by Rep. Rob Menendez, who launched a statewide initiative opposing the project alongside Sen. Andy Kim and several House members.
“After his Administration bragged about wanting to treat immigrants like ‘Amazon Prime,’ the latest development in Trump’s cruel anti-immigrant agenda is using massive warehouses for immigrant detention,” Menendez said. “I have personally witnessed abhorrent conditions at Delaney Hall, and the idea that this Administration wants to replicate them at an even bigger scale at warehouses not meant for human occupancy is horrific.”
Sen. Andy Kim said the proposal reflects broader concerns about private detention operations.
“From Roxbury to Newark, private detention centers have no place in New Jersey,” Kim said. “These companies have shown they’d rather put their own profits over the care they’re supposed to provide.”
Other lawmakers pointed to broader community impacts. Rep. LaMonica McIver said, “We want ICE out of New Jersey, not another massive detention center in our community,” adding that detention agencies “skirt oversight and accountability.”
Rep. Donald Norcross referenced recent enforcement activity elsewhere in the state.
“From Minnesota to New Jersey, we’ve seen what happens when ICE comes into our communities,” Norcross said. “We deserve honesty from our leaders, not operations carried out in the shadows that leave communities shaken.”
Rep. Frank Pallone said residents should have input before the project moves forward.
“Our communities should not wake up one day to find that human beings are being held in conditions designed for storage,” Pallone said.
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Krystal Knapp is the founder of The Jersey Vindicator and the hyperlocal news website Planet Princeton. Previously she was a reporter at The Trenton Times for a decade.