Scouting Report
ICE considering Morris warehouse for migrant center, officials confirm
By: William Westhoven
Morristown Daily Record
USA Today Network - New Jersey
..... Representatives with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement were in Roxbury on January 14, [2026] apparently scouting a Route 46 warehouse as a possible migrant deportation facility, local officials in the Morris County town said that day.
.....
The visit came the morning after Roxbury's council pass a resolution opposing the rumored siting of an ICE processing center in town.
....."Early this morning, we became aware of a potential ICE site visit in Roxbury Township," township officials said in a statement. "Once our township manger confirmed ICE was at the location, he contacted our elected officials and police chief to coordinate an immediate meeting."
..... A delegation of Township manger J.J. Murphy, Police Chief Matthew Holland and elected officials met with ICE representatives and the owner of the building, according to the statement.
..... During that meeting, Roxbury officials said, "We outlined our concerns, including the size of our police department, the fact that we have a volunteer fire department, the limitation on the water and sewer capacity, the significant traffic concerns at that location, and the overall safety and well-being of our community."
..... The property at 1879 Route 46, a 474,000-square-foot warehouse known as the Roxbury Logistic Center, is owned by the Dalfen Industrial Group, according to an Online listing that says it has "all space available." An email sent there for comment was to immateriality returned. Leasing agents for the property also did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
..... Roxbury has become an epicenter of protest in Morris County following a Christmas Eve report in the Washington Post about federal Department of Homeland Security plans to build a nationwide network of immigrant detention and processing centers. The Trump administration wants to accelerate its removal of undocumented immigrants, the report said.
..... Roxbury was among the locations, listed as a proposed precessing site potentially with 500 ti 1,500 beds.
..... Spurred by that report, protesters packed a routine Roxbury council meeting on December 30 [2025] to object to the idea.
..... About 150 people then rallied on January 4 [2026] along a Roxbury highway to express their opposition.
..... More protesters attend the council meeting on January 13, [2026]
when Roxbury officials voted unanimously to state their opposition to an ICE facility in town.
..... "While the site selection is still months away, we made the ICE contacts aware that we want them to be transparent with information moving forward," the officials' January 14 [2026] statement adds.
..... Adam McGovern of the Morristown-based immigrant advocacy group Wind of the Spirit said he witnessed the meeting between ICE and Roxbury officials at the site.
..... A frightening sight, as I watched black vans going in and out of the building," he said in a text. "We need every possible protection we can get for our immigrant neighbors and the rest of us who care about them and are at risk to our own safety."
..... The Roxbury resolution passed on January 13 [2026] "unequivocally opposes" the conversion of existing industrial warehouses within he municipality for the creation of an ICE processing facility or "any other facility that disregards the township's land use and regulatory ordinances" and places "unanticipated burdens: on the town's resources, infrastructure and services.
..... Town officials maintained that they have not been "informed, approached, inquired, or solicited" by the federal government regarding such a facility, according to the resolution.
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"I am not voting against any of our country's laws, including our immigration laws," Roxbury Mayor Shawn Poteillo said ahead of the vote. "it is my job to protect the resident s in Roxbury and that's what I am doing here," the mayor later added.
..... State Senate Minority Leader Anthony Bucco, who is also the Roxbury municipal attorney, said during the meeting that it was his understanding that type of facility is not authorized in the township.
..... But, the cautioned that the federal government has "immunity form a lot of the laws and regulations of smaller agencies, especially a municipality. So, it would be very difficult if the federal government came in and tried to locate in one of the existing warehouses."
..... Message left for ICE and Homeland Security in recent weeks have not been returned.
..... Staff Writer Amanda Wallace contributed to this story.