Hundreds Rally, Yet Again, To Oppose Morris County ICE Facility

MORRIS COUNTY, NJ — Hundreds of protesters gathered in Roxbury, yet again, to oppose plans to establish an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in the town.

On Saturday, more than 1,000 peaceful demonstrators rallied, holding signs, yelling chants, and exercising their First Amendment rights.

According to the Jefferson Township Democratic Committee, the turnout was so large that two sites had to be established, one protest at Roxbury Town Hall, and another at the Ledgewood Commons.

The outcry comes as ICE plans to convert a warehouse on Route 46 into a detention facility capable of holding up to 1,500 people. The Department of Homeland Security purchased the warehouse last month, a move that has been met with bipartisan criticism on both local and state levels.

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Signs bashing ICE, the Trump Administration, Senator and Roxbury attorney Anthony Bucco, and Congressman Tom Kean could be seen being waved by demonstrators. Other signs read “Silence is Compliance,” “We Are All Immigrants,” and “Honk for Democracy,” to name a few.

Joining protesters was NJ-11 Democratic congressional nominee Analilia Mejia, who condemned ICE and the recent warehouse acquisition.

“We will not allow our communities to become sites of fear and mass detention,” Mejia said in a statement. “Roxbury deserves investment in schools, healthcare, and housing—not cages and cruelty. We won’t let this stand in our backyard. We must put a stop to this warehouse and abolish ICE now!”

The latest protest comes just a month before another round of “No Kings” rallies, which protests the Trump Administration, is scheduled to come to cities across the country, including in Morris County.