MORRIS COUNTY, NJ — Recent court filings have indicated that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) intend to convert a Morris County warehouse into an immigration detention facility, despite a court order to hold off on construction.
On Friday, New Jersey and the town of Roxbury, where the warehouse is situated, filed a status report document with the US District Court citing concerns that the DHS had drummed up a multi-million-dollar private contract to convert the facility into a detention center.
The filing came one day after Project Salt Box had published a $31.8 million order between the DHS and Tennessee-based private contractor SK2 LLC to renovate the Roxbury warehouse into a processing and detention center.
According to the filing, the DHS confirmed with state attorneys last week that the federal agency had decided to proceed with pursuing a detention facility at the Roxbury site.
Specifically, the agency told New Jersey officials that "money has been obligated for maintenance, design of ICE's preferred alternative, and the NEPA analysis of that design."
The contract comes months after the US District Court ordered an immediate halt to the warehouse's conversion. Specifically, the court order says that the DHS is barred from "undertaking any activities at the Roxbury warehouse site for purposes of converting it into a detention center," until after an official Environmental Assessment is completed (a process that takes several months, if not years).
Furthermore, the court filings come after ICE admitted to processing immigrants on the site of the warehouse. The activity has sparked concern and debate over whether the federal agency violated the court order, despite no evidence that immigrants had ever been taken or detained inside the facility.
More: ICE Processed Immigrants At NJ Warehouse Despite Court Order, Officials Say
State officials said in the filing that it would continue to provide status updates on the DHS's progress in converting the warehouse.
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