Senator Cory Booker Slams ICE Activity In Morris County

MORRIS COUNTY, NJ — New Jersey Senator Cory Booker held nothing back this week when he visited Morris County to address growing concerns of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity in the area.

Booker’s visit comes as plans are being developed to build an ICE detention facility in Roxbury, and as ICE raids shake up areas in Morristown.

On Wednesday, Booker met with Roxbury officials, who have opposed the idea of an ICE detention facility being built in the town, according to a report from TAPinto.

The report added that Roxbury officials have met with ICE representatives and explained their opposition to the proposal.

According to the Washington Post, a location in Roxbury will become one of several warehouse-turned-detention facilities across the country. Roxbury’s proposed facility is expected to hold around 1,500 people at one time, the Post added.

The Post’s report also said the plans were unfinalized drafts and “subject to changes.”

The speculation of a new facility has sparked protests across Roxbury and throughout the county.

Read More: Protesters Take To The Streets Over Proposed ICE Facility In Morris Co.

“We have to stop… any ICE detention facility (from being) built in our state,” Booker said. “We have to take the two ICE detention facilities that are here, many of them against local ordinances, didn’t even get certificates of occupancy, and stop their illegal activities, and activities that violate our collective values.”

Booker also met with community leaders in Morristown, a township that’s been rocked by ICE activity over the last several weeks.

A recent ICE raid in Morristown rounded up 11 people, including an 18-year-old high school student. The student has since been released after a U.S. District judge found his arrest “unlawful.”

Among those taken was also the father of a six-year-old girl, a man with no criminal record who has lived in New Jersey for 13 years, according to an NJ.com report.

“When you put a child in danger by taking away their parent, with no concern or process for protecting that child, you are guilty of child endangerment,” the senator said. “This is not just going on here in Morristown; this is going on across our country. It should outrage Americans.”

Booker said that ICE is making communities less safe, adding that there needs to be increased accountability and “higher standards” in regard to the federal agency.

“(ICE) is an agency out of control. And I’m going to do everything I can to stop the nightmares that are visited upon small towns, big cities, and communities all across our country,” Booker said. “But here in Jersey, we have to do a lot more.”

More from Patch:

• ‘Know Your Rights’: ICE Raids Prompt Warnings From Morristown Officials
• ICE, Homeland Security Address Morristown Raid
• ICE Pulls People From Cars In Somerset County Raids, Officials Say
• Father Of 9-Year-Old, Newborn Among Those Detained In Princeton ICE Raid