Detainees say they say were held in Roxbury

By: William Westhove
Morristown Daily Record
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... The New Jersey Attorney General's Office is reviewing reports of alleged detention activity at a Roxbury warehouse p[purchased by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for use as a facility to hold undocumented immigrants who have been arrested.
..... Dover Council Member Sandra Wittner confirmed details of allegations stated in a weekend [09/12-13/2026] release by the nonprofit No ICE North Jersey Alliance, or Project NINNJ. a Dover resident told Wittner that her father, arrested in a September 4 [2026] Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid, believes he may have been held at the Roxbury warehouse before the transfer to the Elizabeth Detention Center.
..... Facing a lawsuit from state and local Republican officials - and fierce opposition from the residents and protest groups - the Department of Homeland Security announced on June 29 [2026] that it would not move forward with tis plan to convert the warehouse into a detention facility.
..... But in a stunning reversal, DHS informed township officials and the court on July 11 [2026] that it once again intended to proceed with plans to retrofit the warehouse for detention use.
..... The new allegations suggest that ICE may finally reactive at what state officials described in a lawsuit as "a logistics center fit for Amazon Prime packages, not people - among other things, it currently has a total of four toilets, despite the planned influx of up to 1,500 detainees and hundreds more ICE employees."

Roxbury, then Elizabeth?

..... "During a Dover ICE raid that resulted in there detention of seven people, the relative of a detainee received a same-day phone call form him saying he was in a 'jail or prison' at a time when the vehicle used to arrest him was documented entering and exiting the warehouse was transferred to the Elizabeth Detention Center later that day." Project NINJA also provided social media links to videos related to the allegation in its release, but they could not be independently confirmed.
..... "He was picked up about 8:45 AM., Wittner said, relating the story from her constituent. "He called her to tell her that he had been picked up by ICE, had been taken westbound, and that he was inside a jail. Not in a car, but inside a jail or a prison. In a building."
..... The detained man, also a Dover resident, called back at about 6:30 PM. tot ell his daughter he had been transfered to the Elizabeth Detention Center and was"awaiting processing along with the other guys who have been pick up in dover that day," Wittner said. He was still there as of September 15, [2026] she said.
..... DHS spokesperson Christine Cuttita, responding to press inquiries about the Roxbury facility via email, responded, "Due to ongoing litigation, DHS has no further comment at this time."
..... Wittner declined to identify the father or daughter, fearing retribution from ICE.
..... "In the meantime, [unrelated to the September 4 Dover arrest] we have heard from close associates of two other detainees that also were in Roxbury," she said. "One gentlemen actually went so far as to describe the bathroom situation there, which is pretty ... You know, they're not supposed to have people in there, so that will give you an idea of what if is like in there."
..... In an email, the New Jersey Attorney General's Office confirmed that it is "carefully reviewing reports of ICE activity at the warehouse and will take all necessary steps to address any non-compliance with a court order."
..... "If ICE tries to convert the Roxbury warehouse site into a detention facility, it would violate a court order," the attorney general's office response added.

ICE moving forward?

..... ICE purchased the vacant warehouse on Route 46 for $129.3 million in February, [2026] sparking opposition from Democratic leaders, including Governor Mikie Sherrill, and he all-Republican municipal council in Roxbury Township. they sought a court injunction on April 7 [2026] to halt any construction.
..... DHS originally proposed converting the building into an Immigration and Customs Enforcement center that would house an estimated 1,500 detainees, supervised by an additional 1,000 staff members, the state said. Environmental advocates and state officials argued that the site was unsuitable for housing detainees and would overwhelm the infrastructure of the suburban town. A DHS official has "announced its intent to run its mitigation detention petitions 'like (Amazon Prim, but with human beings," the state said in a court motion.
..... "Federal law gives DHS discretion to manage immigration enforcement operations," the state lawsuit continues. "But federal law constrains how DHS may do so. and those constraints do not permit DHS to transform local neighborhoods into mass detention outposts without fully assessing impacts on state and local infrastructure and resources."
..... For their part, federal officials have painted opposition to the warehouse detention centers as an attempt "to stop President Trump from making America safe again."
..... "Let's be honest about this. This case isn't about the environment," Cuttita said in July. [2026] "The left didn't care about the mountains of litter that illegal aliens dropped on ranches and riverbeds during Biden border crisis."

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