Overview
- Gov. Mikie Sherrill and Attorney General Jennifer Davenport filed a federal suit naming DHS and ICE, seeking to stop conversion of a 470,000‑square‑foot Roxbury warehouse into a facility for up to 1,500 detainees.
- The complaint cites alleged violations of NEPA and the Administrative Procedure Act, pointing to just four existing toilets, limited water and sewer access, and wastewater that would exceed the current approved limit more than fifteenfold.
- State filings highlight the site’s proximity to the New Jersey Highlands watershed that serves hundreds of thousands of residents, while local opposition includes unanimous resistance from the all‑Republican Roxbury Township Council and recent protests.
- New Jersey’s action follows a Maryland case in which a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order on March 11 to pause a similar warehouse conversion in Williamsport for further review.
- ICE says the project would meet detention standards and bring jobs and millions in tax revenue, and a spokesperson cast the lawsuit as political, while DHS did not immediately provide a detailed legal response.