New Bill Would Stop DHS From Converting NJ Warehouses To ICE Facilities On Taxpayers' Dime

Two New Jersey senators have made legislative moves to stop the Trump Administration from acquiring warehouses to convert into immigrant detention facilities.

Democrats Cory Booker and Andy Kim have introduced the “End Warehouse Detention Act,” which, if passed, would prevent the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from using taxpayer dollars to purchase warehouses for immigrant detention.

Specifically, the End Warehouse Detention Act would prohibit the DHS from using funds gained from President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” or as the two senators dubbed it, the “Big Disastrous Reconciliation Bill,” to purchase, contract, and/or maintain the warehouses for immigration enforcement.

“New Jerseyans have made it clear: we will not allow detention centers to turn our communities into places of fear. I have walked through one of these warehouses and seen firsthand how these facilities are no place for human beings,” said Booker. “This legislation will ensure that not one more taxpayer dollar is used to buy, contract, or convert warehouses into harmful, inhumane detention centers.”

The move comes days after the DHS purchased a warehouse in Roxbury, Morris County, with the intention of turning it into a “regional processing center,” working in conjunction with New Jersey’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers in Elizabeth and Newark.

The facility will reportedly have “an average daily population of 1,000 to 1,500 detainees for average stays of three to seven days,” and is expected to be operational by November.

More: ICE Buys North Jersey Warehouse For Detention Center, Sparking Bipartisan Outcry

The End Warehouse Detention Act would also prevent DHS from using taxpayer dollars to “repurpose, operate, staff, or maintain” already purchased warehouses, including the one in Roxbury.

“Donald Trump is using the money he and Congressional Republicans took from working families’ healthcare to fund his cruelty and open detention facilities that our communities have made clear we want no part of,” Kim said. “Like in Roxbury, people across the country are standing up against this inhumanity, and Congress needs to stand with them. These are our tax dollars – not a slush fund for this administration’s lawlessness.”

The End Warehouse Detention Act was introduced roughly a month after New Jersey politicians sent a letter to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and ICE Director Todd Lyons urging them to halt warehouse acquisitions for immigration enforcement purposes.

“Any expansion of immigrant detention in New Jersey, especially under warehouse conditions that are fundamentally inappropriate for human habitation, contradicts both the interests and values of our state,” the letter reads. “We strongly oppose any effort by DHS and ICE to pursue the use of warehouse facilities for immigration detention and demand that DHS immediately abandon any plans to expand detention capacity in New Jersey.”

Booker and Kim were among ten New Jersey lawmakers who signed the letter.

The End Warehouse Detention Act proposal is the latest push from New Jersey officials to limit federal immigration enforcement in the Garden State.

Governor Mikie Sherrill recently signed Executive Order 12, which restricts federal immigration agents from operating on state-controlled property without a judicial warrant. The move was met with a lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Additionally, a trio of bills was recently introduced in an effort to push back against ICE activity in New Jersey, one of which would prohibit ICE agents from working government jobs for the foreseeable future.

More From Patch:

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• Middlesex Moves To Block ICE From County Property
• Senator Cory Booker Slams ICE Activity In Morris County
• Bergen County Town Vows To Protect Residents After ICE Questions Them