Confusion circulated across New Jersey on Wednesday after a warehouse was reportedly purchased by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but later denied by federal and local officials.
Aerial view of a vacant 470,044-square-foot warehouse off Route 46 in Roxbury is the proposed site of a new ICE detention center. Roxbury, N.J. Jan. 16, 2026issued a statement condemning the reported purchase as “an affront to the Roxbury community who resoundingly rejected the prospect of a facility weeks ago.
” Wednesday night, an ICE spokesperson told NJ.com that “we have no new detention centers to announce in New Jersey at this time.” The statement said detention centers “will not be warehouses - they will be very well structured detention facilities meeting our regular detention standards.” By Thursday morning, Roxbury’s mayor issued a statement disputing reports that ICE had purchased the building. “As of yesterday, February 18, 2026, following direct communication with the current property owner, they have advised that there is no contract in place with any prospective buyer for the property in question,” Roxbury Mayor Shawn Potillo said. “We have reached out to DHS for clarification as well,” he added. “They have responded, stating that their original statement was issued without proper approval and that no facility was purchased in Roxbury.”“I have personally witnessed abhorrent conditions at Delaney Hall, and the idea that this Administration wants to replicate them at an even bigger scale at warehouses not meant for human occupancy is horrific,” Menendez said in the statement. On Jan. 13, more than a month before the confusion over the warehouse purchase, Roxbury Township’s mayor and councilLocal officials have serious concerns about infrastructure capacity at the warehouse, including water, sewer and public safety issues, if the location is eventually converted into a detention facility.The facility would be the state’s third detention center and the largest in New Jersey. ICE officials did not answer questions about whether a potential facility in Roxbury would be privately run. GEO Group operates Delaney Hall in Newark, which has 1,000 beds. The Elizabeth Detention Center, owned and operated by CoreCivic, is much smaller. Besides detention centers, ICE expanded its footprint in New Jersey by leasing office space in Roseland to house about 40 attorneys and paralegals.in her first month in office, proposing legislation to limit the state’s cooperation with the federal agency and force ICE agents not to wear masks in public.Matt is an award-winning journalist having won over a dozen awards in a variety of categories including coverage of courts and public safety, feature writing, and interpretive writing. He covers breaking news...
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