On March 20, 2026, the state of New Jersey and the Township of Roxbury filed a lawsuit against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to halt their plan to convert a vacant warehouse into a large-scale immigration detention facility. ICE plans to convert and operate a detention center without addressing serious state and local concerns about water, sewage, and public safety, accounting for the site’s sensitive environment, or considering if this warehouse is an appropriate place for detention.  

By placing burdens on public water and sewage conveyance capacity, displacing other housing development, clogging roads and highways, and diverting emergency response resources, the warehouse would harm the local economy and deprive the township of an estimated $1.8 million in annual tax revenue. ICE and DHS failed to adequately consider each of these important impacts on the state and local area as they were required to do under federal law. In addition, a warehouse designed to serve as a logistics center for storing and transporting goods is manifestly unfit for human habitation. 

The lawsuit seeks declaratory and injunctive relief under the Administrative Procedure Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Intergovernmental Cooperation Act, and the Immigration and Nationality Act. New Jersey and Roxbury are asking the U.S. District Court to stop the federal government from implementing the decision to create this mass detention facility. 

Today, we join efforts to enforce the law and protect the rights of all New Jerseyans. Federal laws require—and our State and towns deserve—that DHS and ICE consult with the State and the Township on major projects in their backyard. Instead, DHS and ICE are ramming through a secretive purchase and rushed renovation. We will not allow these ill-considered plans to happen. We have partnered with the Township of Roxbury, relying on the Township’s crucial local knowledge and efficiently combining our resources for this important bipartisan fight.Attorney General Jennifer Davenport