Roxbury detention proposal returns
Feds reverse course, say they will use warehouse
By: Albina Sportelli
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
ROXBURY - Just days after federal officials appeared to abandon plans to turn a local warehouse into an immigration detention center, the project is back on the table.
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In a stunning reversal, the Department of Homeland Security has informed township officials and the court that it once again intends to move forward with plans to retrofit the warehouse as a potential detention facility, Mayor Shawn Potillo announced on July 11. [2026]
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The move came roughly a week aft4er the U.S. Department of Justice told the court that Homeland Security would no longer pursue the conversion warehouse, a development many residents and local officials viewed as a major victory in their ongoing fight against the proposal.
..... "we will continue to sue every legal tool available to protect the people, property and resources of Roxbury Township," Potillo said in a statement posted on the township's website after the reversal. "This latest development does not change oour preposition, and it does not alter the course of our legal challenge."
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The court document dated June 29 [2026] said federal officials "no longer intend to convert the Roxbury Warehouse into an immigration detention facility and intend to sell the warehouse.
..... After the change in hat stance, township officials quickly responded that they will continue their efforts to stop the conversion.
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"this is obviously deeply disappointing news for the residents of Roxbury Township, who have demonstrated remarkable patience and resilience throughout this process," Potillo's statement reads. "While we do not know exactly what promoted the Department of Homeland Security to reconsider tis previous position, we are confident that this decision was not the result of any action, request, or change in the position of Roxbury Township."
..... The mayor said "nothing is final until the legal precess has run its course," but that local officials remain "cautiously optimistic" and will continue with efforts to prevent the facility from being built.
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Immigration and Customs Enforcement purchased the vacant Morris County warehouse on Route 46 for $129.3 million in February, [2026] sparking opposition form Democratic leaders, including governor Mikie Sherrill, and the all-Republican municipal council in Roxbury Township. The state and the township sought a court injunction on April 7 [2026] to halt any construction.
..... On July 12, [2026] after the feds' reversal, spokesperson for Sherrill, Stephen Signmund, said via email: "Let's be clear, the facility is not moving forward now because of the governor's and Attorney General's bipartisan lawsuit, no matter how many contradictory court filings from the Trump Administration."
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In June, [2026] after the Department of Homeland Security confirmed it was backing down and would not try to establish a mass detention center in Roxbury," Sherrill posted on social media that it was "a major victory for the State and for the township of Roxbury."
..... "This has never been a partisan case, because the plan to establish a detention center at the Roxbury warehouse was always unlawful," the governor's post said. "Converting a warehouse for thousands of people would not only be inhumane but also have devastating local and environmental impacts - and it would not make New Jersey any safer. that's why we took the Department to court and forced the Trump administration to abandon its plans," it reads.
..... On June 30, [2026] when the mayor believed the issue was resolved, he posted that the federal government remains the current owner of the property, and as a result, "Roxbury taxpayers continue to bear the financial impact of approximately $1.8 million in lost annual tax revenue." He said that although the result represented "meaningful progress, our work is not yet completed."