New Jersey and Roxbury Township on Friday filed a joint lawsuit in U.S. District Court seeking to stop the conversion of a warehouse into a 1,500-person immigrant detention facility.
The suit contends that the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement “flouted bedrock federal statutory mandates,” in part by failing to complete an environmental review and to consider state and local input. It calls the plan “illegal.”
Homeland Security “did this with no planning, no consultation and no response when town officials asked what was going on, no eye to even the most basic efforts needed to manage sewage water or public safety,” Gov. Mikie Sherrill said. “It’s the kind of poorly thought out, chaotic idea that all too often comes from the Trump administration, but it doesn’t just violate common sense, it violates federal law, not to mention zoning and building codes that any other property owner would have to abide by.”
In a statement, ICE said it had studied the property prior to purchase.
“ICE carefully evaluated the use of existing facilities to help minimize environmental impacts, including potential impacts to protected species, sensitive natural resources, and valued cultural resources,” the agency said.
Construction contract
Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, bought the vacant three-year old warehouse last month for $129 million, more than twice its assessed value for tax purposes. It plans to award a construction contract by the end of the month, with work to be finished within 90 days, according to the lawsuit. That would allow for an early June opening.
“Judicial intervention is critically necessary,” the suit states.
The lawsuit makes arguments similar to those in a case in Maryland, where a federal judge on Thursday issued a one-month injunction extension to block a 1,500-bed detention center in Washington County.
Credit: (New Jersey Office of the Attorney General)The New Jersey suit is “a bipartisan effort,” said Attorney General Jennifer Davenport, who was appointed by the governor, a Democrat. Roxbury is led by a Republican council.
Mayor Shawn Potillo praised the state’s “swift and decisive action” to partner in the lawsuit.
“It will be clearly demonstrated that this location is not appropriate for a facility of this nature, given the significant impacts it would have on our residents, local resources and the surrounding environment,” Potillo said.
The lawsuit says Homeland Security failed to follow four federal acts: Administrative Procedure, National Environmental Policy, Intergovernmental Cooperation and Immigration and Nationality. Those require appropriate site selection, the creation of reports and local notice or officials’ input.
The warehouse, about 45 miles west of Manhattan on Route 46, is about the size of eight football fields. It would be the largest ICE detention center in New Jersey, with a staff of 1,000. Sherrill reiterated some of local officials’ arguments:
- The warehouse has only four toilets and the number of people there would produce 15 times the site’s wastewater capacity, which would cause sewage overflows into Lake Hopatcong and other waterways.
- The property is in the environmentally sensitive Highlands region, which provides drinking water for 70% of the state. Service for such a large population on site would deplete groundwater supplies and wells, reducing residential water pressure and limiting firefighting capability.
- No plans exist to expand traffic capacity in the area.
- The township would lose the property as a ratable and its $1.8 million in annual property taxes.
Cutting off water
One opponent called for steps beyond a lawsuit.
Guy Citron, a Democrat who ran for the Assembly last year, pointed to Social, Ga., which essentially cut off water to a proposed site until ICE officials explain plans for handling water and sewerage service for as many as 10,000 detainees.
“There’s nothing stopping the township of Roxbury from doing the same thing,” Citron said. “Why not insist the town flex its home rule?”
Others, though, hailed the state and township’s cooperation.
“We’re grateful that the township of Roxbury and the state of New Jersey have heard and responded to the thousands of voices that have been raised in protest of this warehouse over the last three months,” said Birdie Green, a co-founder of No ICE North Jersey Alliance, or Project Ninja, a civil liberties group.
