NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) -- The federal government agreed to review the environmental impact of a proposed immigrant detention facility in New Jersey and temporarily pause a lawsuit seeking to block the conversion of an industrial warehouse.
Lawyers for the US and New Jersey reached an accord Tuesday ahead of a hearing on the state’s request to block the proposed Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility. New Jersey and Roxbury Township claim the project to house 1,500 migrants would overwhelm the local water and sewage systems.
The US will conduct an assessment under the National Environmental Policy Act before issuing a “decision document” on whether to retrofit the warehouse, according to a court filing. After that, both sides will advise US District Judge Jamel Semper in Newark on how they may proceed with the lawsuit. For now, the US will go ahead with fencing, security cameras, and other maintenance.
New Jersey’s case is one of several involving local officials seeking to slow President Donald Trump’s plan to house tens of thousands of migrants in converted industrial facilities. A federal judge in Maryland halted a similar warehouse conversion in Maryland, and Michigan’s attorney general has sued to block an ICE facility.
The administration’s plan for New Jersey sparked intense opposition in Roxbury, a suburban township about 40 miles (64 kilometers) west of New York City, and drew opposition from Governor Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat. They argued that the process violated NEPA, which requires federal agencies to cooperate with state and local governments to mitigate harm to the environment, and to prepare an environmental impact statement.
The facility “will harm the community and won’t do anything to make us safer,” New Jersey officials, including Sherrill, said in a statement. “If DHS conducts a proper analysis, it will discover that this industrial warehouse is no place for a detention center. If DHS continues to plow ahead after conducting its further analysis, we will return to court to seek relief immediately.”
The case is state of New Jersey v. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 26-cv-2884, US District Court, District of New Jersey (Newark).
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