New Jersey immigration activists and a local elected official said they are disappointed in the lack of action by state officials in the wake of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency’s admission it used a warehouse site in Roxbury to process people it had detained.
“I’m really frustrated because a lot of communities are suffering, and the response just seems very lukewarm,” said Sandra Wittner, a town council member from Dover.
In September, activists with a group called PROJECT NINJA, or the No Ice in North Jersey Alliance, submitted photos, videos and detainee testimony to the state attorney general purporting to prove people were arrested by ICE in Dover and driven about five miles west to the Roxbury warehouse. The Trump administration plans to convert the facility into a 1500-person immigration detention center but has so far been blocked by a federal judge in a lawsuit brought by New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill.
The governor and her attorney general, Jennifer Davenport, pledged to hold ICE “accountable” and take legal action if they determined the Trump administration had violated that court order.
Then came a revelation from ICE officials on Oct. 13. In an email to New Jersey Rep. Analilia Mejia, the agency admitted it had brought detainees to the Roxbury site for initial processing after they were arrested in Dover on two occasions, on Sept. 4 and 8.
Two weeks after ICE’s admission, neither Sherrill or Davenport have taken additional legal action.
“We’re not actually clear on why,” said PROJECT NINJA co-founder Birdie Green. “ It’s very frustrating to be screaming at the top of your lungs like, ‘There’s something wrong here. We need somebody to do something about it,’ and to get no response.”
In emailed statements, both said they were told by the Trump administration that ICE would no longer bring detainees to the Roxbury site. A spokesperson for the attorney general, Michael Symons, said her office is continuing to review reports that ICE detained people at the warehouse.
“We will continue to review the facts carefully, and we will take appropriate action if we learn that ICE is violating a court order,” Symons said.
But neither statement addressed why New Jersey officials haven’t taken further legal action to hold ICE accountable for the activity it already acknowledged.
The Trump administration’s plans for the Roxbury warehouse has become a flashpoint in the local Congressional race, where incumbent Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr. is vying against Democrat Rebecca Bennett. ICE’s use of the warehouse has faced stiff opposition from local residents and local officials. Kean has faced criticism from his own party over his lack of engagement on the issue, and Bennett has fared favorably in recent polls showing the seat could help Democrats regain the House of Representatives in next week’s midterm elections.
Wittner said the lack of action follows a pattern among state leaders. She said she’s seen little done to crack down on ICE agents who flout other New Jersey laws — specifically the state’s ban on agents wearing masks and a requirement that their automobiles be equipped with license plates on the front and back of any vehicle.
“Where is the empowerment of our law enforcement to actually uphold those laws?” she said. “ There’s no point in saying it if you’re not gonna actually empower anybody to do what they can to actually uphold those laws.”
