Rep. Tom Kean Asks Homeland Security Chief To Give ‘Deeper Look' At Roxbury ICE Jail Plan

By Sophie Nieto-Munoz, New Jersey Monitor

April 9, 2026

Rep. Tom Kean Jr. is urging the new U.S. Department of Homeland Security secretary to review the federal plan to turn a Roxbury warehouse into a processing center for detained migrants and “give careful consideration” to local opposition.

Kean, a Republican expected to face a tough reelection bid this fall, has not taken a position on whether the detention center plan should move forward, but said in a Tuesday letter to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin that he seeks “a workable solution.”

“I respectfully request that the Department take a deeper look at the proposal and give careful consideration to the concerns raised by local officials, while working collaboratively with multiple levels of government to identify the most appropriate path forward,” Kean said.

The Trump administration purchased the 470,000-square-foot warehouse off Route 46 for $129 million in late February, an action that quickly prompted a lawsuit filed by Gov. Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat, and the all-Republican Roxbury town council.

According to the lawsuit, federal officials plan to open the detention center as early as June.

The warehouse is in the 7th Congressional District, which Kean has represented in Congress since 2023. Roxbury officials who oppose the detention center plan went public earlier this year with complaints that Kean did not “provide the advocacy our residents deserved.” Kean has disputed that.

In Tuesday’s letter, Kean said he has been “actively engaged on this issue on a daily basis” since December 2025, around the time media reports first said the Trump administration was eyeing warehouse purchases to house detained immigrants as part of its nationwide mass deportation effort.

Roxbury’s elected officials have said turning the warehouse into a detention center presents numerous challenges. It would strain the area’s infrastructure and the town’s public safety services, they’ve said, criticism that Kean echoed in his letter to Mullin.

“It is important that these local considerations are comprehensively evaluated as part of the Department’s decision-making process,” he wrote.

Mullin was confirmed as Homeland Security secretary on March 23. Before that vote, he faced tough questioning from Sen. Andy Kim (D) over the Roxbury plan and promised to pay a visit to the area. A Homeland Security spokesperson did not respond when asked whether that is scheduled to happen.

The Roxbury detention center would be the largest migrant jail in the state — which is already home to two privately owned detention centers for immigrants — and the second to open here during Trump’s second term.

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