Activists allege that ICE is holding detainees at Roxbury site (updated 2:30 p.m. Tues.)

Group calls on state officials to investigate whether immigrants are being held at the warehouse

An activist group believes that federal immigration authorities are using a warehouse in Roxbury as a temporary holding facility for recently detained immigrants, even though such a move would violate a court order that restricts how the site can be used.

The organization, Project No ICE North Jersey Alliance, or Project NINJA, sent a Sept. 11 letter to the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office saying an immigrant man picked up along with several others in Dover on Sept. 4 told a relative that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents had driven him west, then deposited him at what seemed to be a jail.

David Broderick, Project NINJA’s attorney, told The Jersey Vindicator that activists also have spotted blacked-out SUVs driving in and out of the 470,000-square-foot warehouse off Route 46 just after raids ended.

The group shared videos of immigrants being arrested by agents in Dover. The same vehicles then were recorded arriving at the Roxbury warehouse.

“There’s no other [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] facility, jail, or prison anywhere in that area — given the timing, it looks likely this person and his fellow detainees were detained for a short period of time at the Roxbury warehouse,” Broderick told The Vindicator.

“We believe this has been going on for a while,” he continued. “It’s not perfect evidence. But it’s the best evidence we’ve had so far, and we felt it was enough to go to the attorney general.”

In the letter, the group urges Attorney General Jennifer Davenport to bring the potential violations to the court’s attention and push for an oversight visit.

A representative from Davenport’s office has not yet responded to the letter, Broderick added.

A spokesperson for the office said on Tuesday that if ICE tries to convert the Roxbury warehouse site into a detention facility, it would violate a court order. “We are carefully reviewing reports of ICE activity at the warehouse and will take all necessary steps to address any non-compliance with a court order,” the spokesperson said.

Neither ICE nor its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, responded to The Vindicator’s request for comment on Monday.

The controversy comes as ICE has continued to ramp up its activity in northern New Jersey. The state saw a sharp increase in immigration arrests this summer, according to federal data provided to researchers at UC Berkeley and UCLA. ICE arrests in the state jumped 147.6% from May to July, with more than 2,100 people arrested in July. Just under 1,800 of those arrested were processed and sent to ICE detention.

The Department of Homeland Security bought the Roxbury warehouse in February for $129.3 million with the intention of converting it into a processing center for newly detained immigrants who are swept up in President Donald Trump’s mass deportation raids.

Federal planning documents showed the Roxbury facility was slated to hold as many as 1,500 people, though federal officials later said in court that the facility would hold fewer than 550 detainees.

Activists organized major protests and packed local government meetings, pushing officials in the Republican-led town to join a state lawsuit seeking to halt the project. The suit, filed in March, accused federal officials of ignoring laws that require environmental reviews and consultations with state and local governments.

According to court filings, DHS ignored Roxbury officials for two months and did not respond until after the department bought the warehouse.

“And when DHS did respond, it did not ask for input on environmental or other local impacts, but simply confirmed its plans to plow ahead with the detention facility,” attorneys for the state and township wrote.

Environmental groups say the detention camp will increase pollution, snarl traffic, and threaten environmentally sensitive land in a protected region that supplies drinking water to millions in the Garden State.

In May, ICE agreed to halt most work at the site while it conducted an environmental assessment. Under the consent order, ICE can install fencing, security cameras, and alarms and perform basic property maintenance, but broader conversion work must remain on hold.

State officials said in late June that DHS had abandoned the plan. But the following month, Justice Department attorneys said the agency was still “continuing to assess whether to proceed with plans to convert the Roxbury warehouse into a detention facility.”

Despite the confusion, Broderick said holding detainees there would be a clear violation of the consent order.

“They can take care of the lawn, or the heating and cooling,” he said. “But they can’t do anything else.”