Project NINJA on Friday, 9/11, filed a letter with the New Jersey Attorney General’s office sharing evidence that the Roxbury warehouse that was slated to become an ICE detention center is being used as a holding and transfer facility for detainees in violation of a court order which allows for maintenance and security of the property ONLY.

The relative of a man abducted by ICE in a Dover raid on September 4 received a same-day phone call from him saying he was in a “jail or prison” at a time when the vehicle used to abduct him was documented entering and exiting the warehouse property. The man was transferred to the ICE facility in Elizabeth later that day.

“In effect, ICE is using the Roxbury Warehouse as a de facto detention and transfer facility in order to facilitate its raids in the Northern NJ area,’’ according to David Broderick, Project NINJA’s legal advisor, who filed the letter.

Broderick shared evidence from observers and details from the detainee’s relative to support the letter’s claims. A member of the Dover Town Council relayed the relative’s account, which was included in the letter, to Project NINJA.

Holding detainees at the warehouse would violate a May consent order issued in response to a lawsuit filed by the state and Roxbury Township, resulting in an agreement by the Department of Homeland of Security (DHS) to freeze its conversion plans until a required environmental assessment is completed.

The consent order strictly limits DHS activities at the warehouse to securing and maintaining the facility and does not allow it to conduct any other activities there.

Observations within the past few months support the contention that Sept. 4 was not an isolated incident and the facility is regularly being used to detain people, according to Broderick.

The letter urges the State to bring these violations to the attention of the court and to perform a site visit to see if DHS is engaging in additional violations.