On Friday, February 20th, news traveled quickly that the warehouse on Rt 46 was sold by Dalfen Industrial to the Department of Homeland Security. This announcement came just 2 days after both Dalfen and DHS publicly stated that a deal had NOT been made on the property. Roxbury officials issued a blistering statement that same day that explained the sequence of events with both Dalfen and DHS, the town’s intention to fight by any means available and their criticism of Congressman Tom Kean, Jr for not responding to their requests for help.
The town council has trusted being allies with the Congressman but we see from Kean Jr.’s disinterest that Roxbury does not have the friends or actual support they thought they did. This is a hard lesson but we should not let that blunt our response.
The warehouse and DHS presence here is bigger than Roxbury. There are legal avenues that our local officials can and should take to follow their own goals of protecting our community and resources.
Roxbury has been met with support spanning beyond its borders. We share resources with neighboring towns – we should welcome their voices to this fight. Rather than attacking allies who have not faltered, we need friends everywhere.
The situation requires courage that includes seeking allies and experience from unexpected people and groups that share the same goal: Roxbury’s legacy should be one of community, NOT be that a warehouse becomes a detention facility that houses people.
The town council members face a heavy burden that will affect our community now and their legacies going forward.
We urge the Roxbury Town Council to work with state and federal officials to pursue every possible legal recourse with the many allies already working to stop this potential warehouse of people from happening here, such as:
- The Musconetcong Sewerage Authority – https://www.msa-nj.org/
- The Highlands Council – https://www.nj.gov/njhighlands/
- The Highlands Coalition – https://njhighlandscoalition.org/highlands-council/
- NJ Appleseed – https://njappleseed.org/
- American Friends Service Committee NJ (AFSC) – www.afsc.org
- Pax Christi NJ – https://paxchristiusa.org/tag/pax-christi-new-jersey/
- The Raritan Headwaters Association – https://www.raritanheadwaters.org/
Contact the Roxbury Town Council members to voice your concerns.