NINJA Letter to DHS: $130M Wasted on Warehouse that Can Not Be Used
Project NINJA (with one of its member organizations, NJ Appleseed) has sent a letter to the DHS Office of the Inspector General (an advisory body who’s auditing the DHS purchases of warehouses for use as detention facilities) outlining a variety of legal violations and irregularities in the DHS purchase of a Roxbury, NJ warehouse. The press release (below/attached) provides details. The full eight-page document, as submitted, is also available.
Project NINJA and NJ Appleseed Inform Federal Inspector General of Violations and Irregularities in DHS Purchase of Roxbury Warehouse
Coalition submits letter and supporting documents to DHS Office of Inspector General, urging scrutiny of $129 million acquisition
ROXBURY, NJ — The No ICE in North Jersey Alliance (Project NINJA) and New Jersey Appleseed Public Interest Law Center (NJ Appleseed) have submitted a letter to the Department of Homeland Security to inform and assist in DHS’s audit of warehouse acquisitions for use as immigration detention facilities. The information details multiple apparent violations and irregularities in the purchase of a Roxbury, NJ warehouse in February 2026.
Project NINJA spokesperson William Angus sums it up: “DHS wasted $130 million of taxpayer dollars paying double for a warehouse that it can’t use, in a transaction without a lawyer, that made Goldman Sachs, a firm with close ties to the Trump administration, very rich. And it looks like they broke a bunch of laws along the way. Whether DHS didn’t know what it was doing, or was doing it to line pockets, it’s time for the Inspector General to find out. This letter is us handing over our work and saying: here you go, do your job.”
The letter was authored by attorneys with decades of experience in New Jersey commercial real estate transactions, and was submitted with supporting documentation to the DHS Office of the Inspector General (OIG), which is conducting an audit of ICE’s nationwide warehouse purchases as part of its mission to provide independent oversight of DHS.
Among the information the letter provides the DHS OIG:
- DHS Appears to Have Had No Legal Representation.
DHS does not appear to have been represented by any attorney in a transaction that cost taxpayers $129.3 million. The individual who signed closing documents on DHS’s behalf described himself as its “Legal Representative,” but does not hold a law degree and is not admitted to the New Jersey bar. The absence of qualified legal counsel may explain many of the other failures detailed in the letter. - DHS Appears to Have Overpaid More Than $67 Million in a Deal that Enriched Goldman Sachs.
DHS paid $129.3 million for a warehouse assessed at $62.2 million, which has significant access and location limitations and has been sitting empty for three years in a local market where warehouse vacancy rates are at historic highs. The seller was a Goldman Sachs-majority joint venture. The letter urges the Inspector General to examine whether the firm’s well-documented ties to the current administration influenced DHS’s decision to pay more than double the property’s assessed value. - DHS and Goldman Sachs Appear to Have Intentionally Violated New Jersey Law.
Goldman Sachs as the seller, aided by DHS as the buyer, appears to have violated New Jersey law by failing to provide the required one month’s notice to the NJ Department of Environmental Protection of the purchase of the warehouse, in violation of the terms of a conservation easement. This may have been to keep state and local authorities in the dark so they could not take legal action to prevent the sale. - DHS Neglected to Perform and Ignored Findings from Basic Due Diligence Revealing the Facility Cannot Be Used as Intended.
DHS purchased the facility despite the fact that local zoning codes classify the site as “light industrial — office research,” a designation that prohibits its use as a detention facility unless the township of Roxbury grants a conditional use approval. (The township has consistently and publicly opposed the facility.) DHS’s own internal records indicate that it was aware of this in 2025; nevertheless, it went ahead with the 2026 purchase. The letter identifies a list of other due-diligence failures, including a lack of inquiry to water and sewer authorities about infrastructure capacity for the planned detention facility (a capacity which does not exist).
Background
NJ Appleseed is an independent public interest law center that addresses unmet legal needs by strategizing with community organizations. It has been a member of Project NINJA since shortly after the coalition’s founding. Project NINJA formed in January 2026 following initial news reports about ICE’s warehouse acquisition program, and has worked alongside state and local officials including Senators Andy Kim and Cory Booker, Governor Mikie Sherrill, Attorney General Jennifer Davenport, and the all-Republican Roxbury Township Council (which unanimously passed a resolution opposing the facility). The OIG letter was copied to those officials.
About The No ICE in North Jersey Alliance (Project NINJA)
The No ICE in North Jersey Alliance (Project NINJA) is a volunteer coalition of community, religious, environmental, town-planning, civil-rights, and activist groups, working to prevent the establishment of ICE detention facilities in North Jersey communities. Project NINJA advocates for humane immigration policies and opposes the expansion of detention infrastructure.
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