Federal immigration officials have no contract to turn a vacant Morris County warehouse into a detention center, U.S. and local authorities said.
The Department of Homeland Security had mistakenly released a statement saying it had bought the site, Roxbury Mayor Shawn Potillo told NJ Spotlight News.
“No facility was purchased in town,” Potillo said. The owner of the property, on Route 46, told township officials that no contract was in place with any buyer, although Immigration and Customs Enforcement had scouted the location last month.
In a statement, Homeland Security said: “We have no new detention centers to announce at this time. These will not be warehouses — they will be very well structured detention facilities meeting our regular detention standards.”
The warehouse has been the source of speculation since the Morris County township appeared on a Homeland Security list of potential sites in December. On Thursday, the website Gothamist reported that Homeland Security had confirmed its purchase of the property.
State Senate Minority Leader Anthony Bucco (R-Morris), who is also the attorney for the township, has said Roxbury isn’t the right place for such a facility, and lacks the infrastructure to support it. The Township Council, which is Republican, passed a resolution opposing any such use.
Meanwhile, New Jersey’s Democratic congressional delegation, led by Rep. Rob Menendez of the 8th District, is urging residents statewide to sign onto an initiative opposing any ICE facilities in New Jersey, including a potential Roxbury conversion.
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