Boonton council members back Roxbury's opposition to proposed detention facility as residents urge protections for immigrants

Council members at Boonton's Jan. 20 meeting agreed to circulate a statement expressing support for the Roxbury Town Council's unanimous resolution opposing the potential placement of a detention and processing facility in Roxbury.

A council member read the Roxbury-support statement aloud and asked colleagues to add their names, saying the resolution opposed conversion of industrial warehouses into a processing facility and affirmed the township's objective to protect public safety and community character. "We commend the Roxbury Town Council for its unanimous action," the council member said during the meeting.

Several residents used the public-comment period to press Boonton leaders to take steps that would protect immigrant and BIPOC residents if enforcement actions escalate. Michael Herbert, who identified himself as a Home Street resident, said the prospect of immigration enforcement in neighboring towns had a personal and emotional impact. "This is something that has affected me, emotionally, every day," he said, urging the council to listen to community concerns.

Another resident, who identified herself as Victoria and said she lives on Birch Street and owns a Main Street business, urged the council to work with the police and faith leaders on planning for de-escalation and "a type of civil resistance." She told the council she was asking for two main things: local planning to protect community members and that ICE agents present a signed judicial warrant before making arrests in town.

Council member Weisman said he would add his name to the statement and encouraged others to do the same; Mayor Lynch said he would abstain from adding his name to proclamations or statements on principle, explaining, "Not because I oppose this, just because I, in principle, I oppose any proclamations or resolutions." The mayor did not block circulation of the statement and council members agreed to circulate it for signatures outside the meeting.

The council did not take a formal vote to adopt an official municipal ordinance or policy at the meeting. The action recorded on the agenda was the request to circulate a joint statement of support for Roxbury's resolution and gather signatures from willing council members.

The council's engagement came amid repeated appeals by residents that the town take clear steps to protect immigrant and BIPOC community members and to coordinate with the police department on de-escalation planning.

The meeting record indicates the council will circulate the statement for signatures and that individual members could choose whether to attach their names in public.