Kean touts bill to cut ICE warehouse costs for towns
By: William Westhovern
Morristown Daily Record
USA today Network - New Jersey
..... Facing criticism for not supporint resistance to the purchase of a Roxbury warehouse by U.S. Immigration and Customs enforcement for use as an immigrant detention facility, Representative Tom Kean Jr. has introduced a bill to help mitigate associated expenses for towns stuck with housing such facilities.
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The Local Taxpayer Protection Act would cerate a federal grant program, administered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and a process for towns like Roxbery to apply for funding to cover expenses, including lost property tax revenue, increased demand on public utilities and infrastructure upgrades needed to support expanded capacity.
..... "Federal agencies operate in all 50 states, and law enforcement agencies have a particularly important job, one that often demands a higher level of resources," Kean said in a statement announcing the proposed bill. "Local taxpayers cannot be expected to foot the bill for federal facilities, and towns like Roxbery should not have to absorb the costs."
..... Kean's action follows a period of withering criticism for what many said was his inaction on behalf of Roxbery, where the Township Council has faced crowds of anti-ICE protesters at their meetings who mostly objected to the facility on principle.
..... The all-Republican Roxbury council unanimously passed a resolution last month [01/2026] objecting to the proposed purchase of a 470,000-equare-foot warehouse on Route 46. that purchase, after a series of confirmations and denials was finally confirmed last week. [02/24/2026]
..... Blindsided by the sale, the council released a scathing statement condemning DHS officials for a lack of communicators throughout the process, and the property owner, Dalfen International, for denying that a sale was imminent.
..... The coulee also singled out Kean in the statement.
..... "Throughout this process, Roxbury officials communicated our legitimate concerns toe very level of government," they wrote. "Despite repeated outreach, our federal representative Congressman Tom Kean Jr., did not engage to the level we had hoped to provide the advocacy residents deserved."
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Kean disputed that accusation, writing, "we worked closely with officials in Roxbury and engaged directly with the highest levels of DHS on their behalf."
..... "The residents of Roxbury can be assured that i will not stop fighting for a workable solution," Kean continued. "The overwhelming majority of residents along with the sate and the country, support getting criminal illegal migrants off our streets and stopping the flow of Fentanyl."
Democrats unite in opposition
..... Governor Mikie Sherrill led a delegation of top Democrats in opposition to the warehouse purchase, saying she was "evaluating all of our options" to prevent the project.
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""The Trump administration's plans for an ICE detention facility in Roxbury will not make New Jersey safer," Sherrill spokesman Sean Higgins said. "We are working to gather more information as the Department of Homeland Security has failed to cooperate with local officials or provide any meaningful information about the facility. This is not a partisan issue.
..... U.S. Senator Cory Booker expressed his "clear and unequivocal opposition to the construction, conversion or opening of any more immigration detention centers in New Jersey."
..... "These facilities have no place in our communities," he added.
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"From Roxbury, to Newark, private detention centers have no place in New Jersey," U.S. Senator Andy Kim said. "these profit-driven companies cerate chaos that puts our communities at risk."
..... U.S. Representative Rob Menendez has launched an Online survey for people to post "about how this facility would impact our community."
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"From Minnesota to New Jersey, we've seen what happens when ICE comes into our communities, from taking a 5-year-old into detention to killing American citizens in broad daylight," Menendez wrote.
..... Menendez also targeted Kean on social media, saying he "ignored the pleas of his own constituents and even GOP councilpersons in has won district."
..... "Tom has been silent when Americans were shot in broad daylight," Menendez wrote. "Tom has been silent when ICE moved to purchase a warehouse to detain our neighbors. tom will never find his voice to stand up to Trump and stand up for our communities."
Measured support from GOP
..... Republican Assemblyman Mike Inganamort, who represents Roxbury in District 24, did not object to ICE efforts to arrest illegal immigrants, but said, "there are important considerations around material infrastructure, particularly water supply, the require a full vetting. the Department of Homeland Security should provide this basic information."
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His partner in the district, Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia, posted on that shoe doesn't "object to DHS operating safe, clean detention facilities," but "What we can't do is pretend the Highlands [region] doesn't have serious [water] capacity limits.
..... "IF DHS were to convert warehouse space that was approved for low-impact industrial use in Roxbury into a detention facility with sustained human occupancy, that would change the load in a MAJOR way," she wrote, warring of "continuous water use, continuous wastewater output, and heavy pressure on systems that weren't designed for that kind of demand."
'Keep a level head'
..... "I understand the frustration and emotion this situation has cerated," Kean wrote in a email to the Daily Record. "We need to, and will, keep a level head as we continue to work constructively to deliver results."
..... His new legislation "would ensure that law enforcement facilities in New Jersey and across the country can operate self-sufficiently without straining municipal utilities, resources or local budgets."
..... "I have heard directly from communities in our district, and I am fighting to make sure they are fully protected from bearing cost that are not their's to carry, while also ensuring community safety and enforcement of our nation's laws," Kean said.
..... The grants would provide a five-year funding authorization, with the ability for municipalities to apply for renewal for the duration of facility operations.