The Department of Homeland Security intends to offload a warehouse in Roxbury that a March 20 federal complaint describes as purchased for immigration detention. The New York Times reported on June 18 that DHS intends to "hand off or sell" the property along with six other warehouses nationally. A transfer to another federal agency could, depending on the recipient, leave detention-related use within the realm of possibility, though no source has specified which agencies might receive the properties. The Times article contained no Roxbury-specific disposition document and the building still belongs to the federal government.
If the reversal materializes, it would end the plan to convert the building at 1879 Route 46. The Roxbury retreat is part of a broader reassessment of the agency's detention expansion strategy. The agency purchased 11 warehouses nationally for roughly $1 billion, according to Spotlight PA. NBC News reported May 29 that DHS is considering selling several of those properties and that DHS officials said ICE "no longer needs the capacity to hold 100,000 immigrants" under Mullin. The DHS Inspector General is reviewing whether the warehouse purchases were cost-effective.
On May 12, New Jersey and Roxbury Township filed a joint stipulation in U.S. District Court Case No. 26-02884 that halted conversion work and required ICE to conduct an environmental assessment. The stipulation allows limited maintenance but prohibits interior construction. Project Saltbox published the agreement. The Daily Record, NJ Spotlight News and New Jersey Monitor reported it. The agreement remains in force, and the underlying lawsuit is still pending. No court has ruled on the merits of the state's claims.
The warehouse sits in the New Jersey Highlands, an environmentally sensitive region that supplies clean water. The state's March 20 complaint and an April 8 preliminary injunction motion cite risks to water and sewage systems. Bolts Magazine reported the facility was approved for 12,000 gallons of water per day but would need 187,500 gallons per day for 1,500 detainees.
Governor Mikie Sherrill and New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport issued a joint statement June 18. "DHS's plans were always illegal: the Roxbury warehouse is a logistics center fit for packages, not thousands of people, and did nothing to make New Jersey safer," they said. "This isn't a partisan issue and we're grateful for our partnership with the Roxbury community as we keep DHS's feet to the fire to ensure this facility is never opened." The statement also called the development "a big win for public safety, for the township of Roxbury, and for New Jersey.”
Local officials offered a more cautious reading. Roxbury Mayor Shawn Potillo, a Republican, told The Jersey Vindicator that "Roxbury Township is encouraged by the reports that the Department of Homeland Security may be considering the sale of the property in Roxbury. While this would be welcome news for our community, we remain cautiously optimistic until the information is officially confirmed by the appropriate federal authorities."
State Senator Anthony Bucco (R, 25th District), who also serves as Roxbury township attorney, did not issue a public statement as of June 18. Representative Tom Kean Jr. (R, NJ-07), whose district includes the site, also did not comment on the facility, though his political consultant announced June 18 that Kean would return to Capitol Hill on June 30 after a monthslong medical absence.
Kean's last public remarks on the facility date to an April 7 letter to DHS Secretary Mullin in which he asked the Department to "take a deeper look at the proposal and give careful consideration to the concerns raised by local officials." Kean cited concerns about lost municipal tax revenue, strain on police and volunteer fire services and questions about whether the site could handle utility and environmental demands. He did not take a position on whether the facility should open. The Roxbury council had previously said in February that Kean "did not engage to the level we had hoped to provide the advocacy our residents deserved," according to New Jersey Monitor.
Democrats were less reserved. Representative Rob Menendez (NJ-08), who had also joined the opposition to the ICE center at Newark's Delaney Hall, said in a June 18 statement to NJ Spotlight News: "We are working to confirm reporting that ICE is abandoning its Roxbury warehouse plans, but if true, this would be big news. From day one, we fought to stop this facility, bringing together thousands of New Jerseyans in opposition. Now we are on the cusp of an important win for our state."
Federal officials, by contrast, said nothing. As of June 18, NJBallot was unable to find any public statement issued by DHS regarding the reported divestment, and NJ Spotlight News reported that spokespeople for the agency did not respond when asked that day. The agency had been more communicative in February, under then-Secretary Kristi Noem, when detailed projections appeared in media outlets including Real Estate NJ.
The warehouse that DHS now reportedly wants to unload was purchased just four months earlier. The federal acquisition closed in February with a $129.3 million payment to DG Roxbury Property Owner LP, according to the Morris County deed of sale. The Jersey Vindicator reported the purchase price via public records, a figure the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General later cited in federal court filings. The amount was roughly double the $62.2 million assessed value that NJ Spotlight News reported.
Investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Texas-based real estate firm Dalfen Industrial held the property through DG Roxbury Property Owner LP, according to the Morris County deed that the Jersey Vindicator obtained. Real Estate NJ reported that DHS projected the facility would create 1,300 jobs and generate $39.2 million in tax revenue.
The 470,000-square-foot measurement and four-toilet specification appear in the March 20 federal complaint, which the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General referenced in an official statement and which New Jersey Monitor, ABC7 NY and Bolts Magazine reported.
The June 18 development came two weeks after Sherrill and legislative leaders announced that funding for the Detention and Deportation Defense Initiative, a legal defense program for immigrants facing deportation, would rise to $20.2 million. The DDDI funds legal representation for immigrants facing deportation; it is not a litigation tool against detention facility construction. The funding increase and the reported sale are independent actions with no established connection.
The warehouse remains vacant on Route 46, still federally owned and still legally contested, with no buyer named and no ruling on the state's underlying claims.
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Sources
• Governor's Press Office, Office of the Governor, "Statement from Governor Mikie Sherrill and Attorney General Jennifer Davenport" (June 18, 2026)
• New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, "Governor Sherrill, Attorney General Davenport, Roxbury Township Sue ICE, DHS Over Plans to Convert Warehouse into Mass Detention Facility" (March 20, 2026)
• New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, "New Jersey, Roxbury Township Seek Injunction to Block ICE Detention Facility" (April 8, 2026)
• NJ.gov, "Protecting Due Process: Governor Sherrill Launches Initiatives to Resist Unconstitutional Immigration Detention" (June 4, 2026)
• State of New Jersey and Township of Roxbury v. U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement, et al., U.S. District Court (D.N.J.), Docket No. 26-02884, "Federal Complaint" (March 20, 2026)
• State of New Jersey and Township of Roxbury v. U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement, et al., U.S. District Court (D.N.J.), Docket No. 26-02884, "Joint Stipulation to Stay Adjudication of Plaintiffs' Motion for Preliminary Injunction" (May 12, 2026)
• ABC7 NY, "New Jersey leaders file lawsuit to stop proposed ICE detention center in Roxbury" (March 20, 2026)
• Associated Press, "NJ Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr. Sets June 30 Return Date After Monthslong Absence," US News (June 18, 2026)
• Bolts Magazine, "ICE Bought a Warehouse in a Conservative New Jersey Town. Locals Are Now Fighting Back" (April 27, 2026)
• CBS News, "New Jersey suing ICE to block Roxbury detention center" (March 20, 2026)
• Jersey Vindicator, "An agency out of control" (February 6, 2026)
• Jersey Vindicator, "ICE abandons proposal to convert Roxbury warehouse into immigrant detention center" (June 18, 2026)
• Jersey Vindicator, "U.S. paid $129.3 million for New Jersey warehouse for large-scale immigrant detention center" (February 26, 2026)
• Morristown Minute, "DHS Backs Down From Roxbury ICE Detention Center Plan" (June 18, 2026)
• NBC News, "ICE eyes selling mega-warehouses purchased for mass detention" (May 29, 2026)
• NBC New York, "New Jersey suing ICE, DHS over Roxbury detention facility" (March 20, 2026)
• New Jersey Monitor, "Feds agree to delay opening of planned Roxbury ICE jail" (May 12, 2026)
• New Jersey Monitor, "ICE buys warehouse for migrant detention, Roxbury officials say" (February 28, 2026)
• New Jersey Monitor, "NJ, Roxbury sue Trump administration to halt new ICE facility" (March 20, 2026)
• New York Times, "ICE Is Selling Warehouses Bought for Mass Detention" (June 18, 2026)
• NJ Spotlight News, "Residents press Roxbury to fight harder against latest ICE immigrant detention facility" (February 26, 2026)
• NJ Spotlight News, "Roxbury ICE detention center on hold for environmental review" (May 13, 2026)
• NJ Spotlight News, "Trump administration looks to back off Roxbury detention center" (June 18, 2026)
• Politico NJ, "New Jersey sues Trump administration over ICE warehouse plan" (March 20, 2026)
• Project Saltbox, "New Jersey and ICE Reach Temporary Deal to Pause Work at Proposed Roxbury Detention Warehouse" (May 12, 2026)
• Real Estate NJ, "ICE buys vacant 470,000 sq. ft. warehouse in Roxbury, intensifying battle over planned detention center" (February 23, 2026)
• Spotlight PA, "ICE detention center expansion paused after $1B spent" (April 1, 2026)
• The Daily Record, "Roxbury NJ ICE facility put on hold after court agreement" (May 12, 2026)
• The Marshall Project, "ICE Is Buying Warehouses. Communities Are Fighting Back" (February 14, 2026)
• USA Today, "Where in the world is this Republican congressman?" (May 23, 2026)
• Wall Street Journal, "ICE Is Snapping Up Warehouses, Reviving the Market and Alarming Towns" (March 28, 2026)
• WRNJ Radio, "Gov. Sherrill announces $20 million for immigration legal defense initiative" (June 5, 2026)
• ACLU-NJ, "ACLU-NJ Applauds Governor Sherrill's $20 Million Increase in Funding for Legal Defense Initiative" (June 4, 2026)
• American Friends Service Committee, "NJ must guarantee legal help for immigrants facing deportation" (February 20, 2026)
• Tom Kean Jr., Representative (R, 7th District), "Letter to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin" (April 7, 2026)