U.S. Sen Andy Kim grilled a fellow senator and nominee to be the next Department of Homeland Security secretary Wednesday about a warehouse the department purchased in Roxbury to house immigrant detainees.
Kim, a Democrat, asked Sen. Markwayne Mullin, an Oklahoma Republican, during Mullin’s confirmation hearing before the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs whether it is fair for the department to open “large-scale detention facilities” without local input. Roxbury officials have opposed the warehouse purchase and said they were not consulted about it.
“It’s a facility the size of eight football fields to house over 1,500 detainees. Never once did an ICE official go and talk to the local mayor, talk to local law enforcement, assess the situation alongside the locals,” Kim said to Mullin.
Mullin acknowledged the detention center would have a “big impact” on Roxbury, citing the financial issue of taking a privately owned warehouse off the tax rolls and infrastructure issues related to water and waste systems.
“If I’m confirmed, I’ll make a trip out there and see it for myself, because it’s a big concern of yours, and we want to address those concerns,” Mullin said.
Kim, a first-term senator, noted that Roxbury is a town of 22,000 people, and detainees and staff planned for the 470,000-square-foot warehouse would constitute about 10% of the population. The town has only 42 police officers and a volunteer fire department, Kim said.
“Does that sound like the kind of town that has the resources to take on a warehouse of this magnitude?” Kim asked.
Mullin said if he discovers there’s a specific reason why the Trump administration chose Roxbury as a home for a new detention center, he would share that with Kim.
“But if not, then maybe we can be better partners moving forward,” Mullin said.
The warehouse would be the largest migrant jail in the state. New Jersey is home to two privately owned jails used to house migrant detainees: Elizabeth Detention Center, with a capacity of about 300, and Delaney Hall in Newark, a facility that opened last year with a capacity of over 1,000 beds.
Kim said in a statement that he plans to vote against advancing Mullin’s nomination to the full Senate on Thursday. Last year, he voted to confirm Kristi Noem, the previous head of the department, a vote he later said he regretted. He also called on her to resign. Noem was fired by Trump earlier this month.
“I will still be voting no on Senator Mullin’s nomination and if he is confirmed, I’ll work aggressively to hold him to the commitments he made to New Jerseyans during today’s confirmation hearing,” Kim said after the hearing.
Another New Jersey representative attended the hearing, albeit in a different capacity. Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-05) was spotted seated behind Mullin. Mullin told the committee that he and Gottheimer are friends, adding that their daughters are writing a book together about bipartisanship.
“We all believe in that flag right there behind you. What I say is, as long as you love that flag as much as I do and you’re willing to die for that flag like I am, we can work together. We can set the differences aside and we can work together. And Josh represents that too,” Mullin said.
In a statement, Gottheimer said it’s clear that the Department of Homeland Security needs new leadership, but he wouldn’t say whether he supports Mullin’s nomination.
“We don’t agree on everything, that’s for sure. But, after a decade of working out together most mornings, and finding bipartisan solutions to some of the toughest issues, Markwayne and his family have become very good friends,” Gottheimer said.
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