Sherrill, GOP Mayor Sue to Block Roxbury Detention Facility

Gov. Mikie Sherrill filed a bipartisan lawsuit Thursday against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, teaming up with Roxbury Township and its Republican mayor to block the federal government’s plan to convert a Morris County warehouse into a large-scale immigration detention facility.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court, seeks declaratory and injunctive relief under four federal statutes: the Administrative Procedure Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Intergovernmental Cooperation Act, and the Immigration and Nationality Act. At its core, the complaint charges that DHS and ICE bypassed legally required consultation with state and local governments before rushing ahead with the project.

“The safety and well-being of New Jerseyans will always be my top priority, and the Trump Administration’s plans for a detention facility in Roxbury will not make our residents safer,” Sherrill said at a Statehouse press conference. “Instead, this facility will overburden local services and infrastructure. These types of facilities also have a long track record of abuse, mistreatment, and unsafe conditions.”

The governor was direct about the unusual coalition behind the lawsuit. “This is not a partisan issue. Republican leaders in the community are similarly against this facility. That is why we are joining with Roxbury to stop this facility to protect the community and our Constitution.”

The warehouse at the center of the dispute was purchased by DHS on February 20. Federal officials plan to renovate it into a detention center capable of holding up to 1,500 people. Roxbury residents and local officials say they first learned of the plan through media reports, not from any federal agency. No public input process was held before the purchase was completed.

Attorney General Matt Davenport framed the lawsuit as an enforcement action as much as a challenge to federal power. “Federal laws require, and our state and towns deserve, that DHS and ICE consult with the state and the township on major projects in their backyard,” Davenport said. “Instead, DHS and ICE are ramming through a secretive purchase and rushed renovation. We will not allow these ill-considered plans to happen.”

Davenport emphasized the practical benefits of the bipartisan partnership. The state and Roxbury Township are combining resources and relying on the township’s local knowledge to build the strongest possible case.

Sherrill had flagged her concerns earlier this year in a letter to then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, who has since resigned. Noem’s expected replacement is Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin, whom President Trump nominated after a period of sustained controversy around the department, including the killing of two Americans in Minneapolis by ICE agents.

The nomination of Mullin as DHS secretary is currently working through the Senate. U.S. Sen. Andy Kim pressed the nominee during cross-examination earlier this week, securing a commitment from Mullin on questions surrounding the department’s conduct, though the full scope of that commitment is still being evaluated by Kim’s office.

For Roxbury, this fight is less about federal immigration policy in the abstract and more about being shut out of a decision with direct consequences for their roads, emergency services, water, and the character of their community. Morris County communities are not dense urban centers built around large institutional facilities. Dropping a 1,500-person detention center into one without any local coordination is the kind of move that strains every municipal system it touches.

The APA claims in the complaint are worth watching closely. Federal agencies have broad authority, but the APA requires that major decisions follow proper procedure. If the court finds that DHS skipped required steps, it has authority to halt the project regardless of where the immigration debate lands politically.

New Jersey has been here before. The state has a long track record of fighting federal projects sited without adequate community input, from highway expansions to waste facilities. The difference here is the speed. DHS appears to have moved from purchase to renovation planning in a matter of weeks, leaving almost no window for legal or public challenge. Sherrill and Roxbury are trying to force that window open before concrete gets poured.