Long Valley Democrats Urge Action Against ICE Facility In Neighboring Town

LONG VALLEY, NJ — Democrats in Washington Township are once again asking that action be taken against plans to build an immigrant detention center in a neighboring town.

The Washington Township Democratic Committee has written a letter condemning the recent purchase of a Roxbury warehouse, which will be turned into an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center.

“Right now, federal authorities are working to quietly convert industrial spaces across the USA into immigration jails,” their letter reads. “Their goal is to build a massive carceral network that prioritizes throughput and logistics over basic human dignity, i.e. A GULAG.”

The call to action comes after the Department of Homeland Security bought a warehouse on Route 46 in Roxbury. According to ICE, the facility will be able to hold 1,500 people and is expected to be up and running in November.

Washington Township Democrats are just some of several people opposing the facility, joining residents, state officials, and Roxbury officials themselves.

Related:

• Hundreds Rally, Yet Again, To Oppose Morris County ICE Facility
• 'Inexcusable': New NJ ICE Facility Sparks Further Backlash
• ICE Buys North Jersey Warehouse For Detention Center, Sparking Bipartisan Outcry

Washington Township Democrats are asking that people be transparent when discussing the Roxbury facility, and are encouraging participation at the upcoming ‘No Kings’ rally in Morristown on March 28.

Read the Washington Township Democratic Committee’s full letter below:

They call it a "processing center." We call it an Immigration Jail.

They call it a "processing center" or a "facility." But when you retrofit an industrial warehouse meant for Amazon packages to hold one to two thousand human beings, there is only one honest word for it: Human Warehousing.

Right now, federal authorities are working to quietly convert industrial spaces across the USA into immigration jails. Their goal is to build a massive carceral network that prioritizes throughput and logistics over basic human dignity, i.e. A GULAG.

We are opposing more than just a building—we are opposing a worldview. The MAGA movement uses "law and order" rhetoric to mask an agenda rooted in white supremacy and cruelty, echoing dark periods of American history. By stripping away their bureaucratic euphemisms, we expose the reality:

- It is not "housing." It is mass confinement without trial.
- It is not "temporary." It is permanent infrastructure for family separation.
- It is not "local economic development." It is a moral stain that treats our neighbors like inventory.

The "Economic Benefit" Lie Proponents are twisting the narrative to claim these sites benefit local towns. DHS boasts the proposed Roxbury facility will bring 1,300 jobs and $39.2 million in tax revenue. Furthermore, Congressman Tom Kean Jr. recently introduced the "Local Taxpayer Protection Act" to reimburse towns hosting these centers for infrastructure upgrades and increased utility demand.

They are telling on themselves. Multi-million dollar infrastructure upgrades prove there is nothing temporary, simple, or benign about these incarcerations, which will impact vulnerable people, including children and pregnant women.

Here is what we need you to do:
1. Name it accurately: When speaking to neighbors or posting online, refuse to use their soft language. Call these sites what they are: Immigration Jails and Mass Detention Centers—all part of an American Gulag like we have never seen before.
2. Show up: Join the No ICE North Jersey Alliance (Project NINJA). Attend the "No Kings 3" mobilization on March 28 at (Morristown Town Hall.)

Washington Township Democratic Committee