LV Democrats Urge Town Officials To Oppose ICE Center In Morris Co.

LONG VALLEY, NJ — The Washington Township Democratic Committee is urging local officials to express opposition to a proposed Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Morris County.

The call to action comes after plans were made for ICE to turn a Roxbury warehouse into a detention facility capable of holding up to 1,500 people.

More:

• New ICE Facility Proposed In Morris County Sparks Backlash
• Protesters Take To The Streets Over Proposed ICE Facility In Morris Co.

“As leaders of this Township, you have a duty to draw a clear, public line. Take concrete steps,” the committee’s letter reads. “Defend Washington Township’s reputation as a decent, safe, and desirable place to live.”

The committee’s request is similar to steps taken by neighboring towns like Mendham Township and Parsippany, which have passed resolutions to oppose the facility in solidarity with Roxbury and New Jersey immigrants.

“Adopt this resolution, or something equally clear, to make it unmistakable that our community will not be associated with abuses committed in the name of ’protecting our homeland’ — language that echoes some of the darkest chapters of human history,” the committee asks. “Use your platform to keep the extreme practices of the current Department of Homeland Security out of northern New Jersey.”

The final request from the Washington Township Democratic Committee is that the Washington Township committee members "loudly and unequivocally renounce any past support for calls of ‘Mass Deportations Now.’"

The township committee has not issued a response as of Thursday evening, according to Washington Township Democratic Committee Chair Patrick Conner.

See the full letter, which was presented to Washington Township officials on Wednesday, below:

I rise to urge this Committee to vote in support of the resolutions passed by Roxbury Township and Parsippany-Troy Hills opposing the plan to turn a Roxbury industrial warehouse into a U.S. ICE detention center. These resolutions may be dismissed as "symbolic," but in the face of real harm, silence is complicity.

Even Republican Senator Wicker has opposed converting a Byhalia, Mississippi, warehouse into an ICE mega-facility, citing inadequate local services, harm to economic development, and constituent concerns. DHS has agreed to seek another site.

The current violence on American streets did not appear out of nowhere; it was the foreseeable outcome of a national campaign built on mass-deportation rhetoric and policies. Some were stunned to learn that U.S. citizens were among the victims, but those of us who grew up in the Jim Crow South were not. We learned in the 20th Century that when a government targets one group, the violence eventually reaches anyone who resists—and that, over time, this violence becomes systemic, tolerated, and hidden in the shadows. We are at a moment of decision.

When marchers at the 2024 Republican National Convention held up "Mass Deportations Now" signs, they were calling for exactly this kind of force that sweeps through neighborhoods and tears into communities. President George W. Bush warned in 2006 that large-scale interior roundups were unwise, unrealistic, incompatible with American values, and ripe for abuse of power. So when people now say, "This is not what we voted for," we must answer honestly: this is exactly what was promised. But you have both the chance—and the obligation—to say no. You can reject this abusive model of enforcement and protect the people you represent.

As leaders of this Township, you have a duty to draw a clear, public line. Take concrete steps. Defend Washington Township’s reputation as a decent, safe, and desirable place to live. Make public your opposition to armed violence on American streets. Adopt this resolution, or something equally clear, to make it unmistakable that our community will not be associated with abuses committed in the name of "protecting our homeland"—language that echoes some of the darkest chapters of human history. Use your platform to keep the extreme practices of the current Department of Homeland Security out of northern New Jersey.

Finally, in your own public statements, I urge you to loudly and unequivocally renounce any
past support for calls of "Mass Deportations Now." The people of Washington Township have
a right to know exactly where you—their elected officials—stand.