By Jasper Ward
WASHINGTON, March 20 (Reuters) – New Jersey sued the Trump administration on Friday over a proposed federal immigration detention center in its state.
The move follows Maryland, which sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security last month to stop construction of a similar facility in the state.
New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill and Attorney General Jennifer Davenport’s lawsuit against DHS and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement seeks to halt a plan to convert a vacant warehouse into a large-scale detention facility, which would have the capacity to hold 1,500 detainees.
The Trump administration plans to convert the warehouse and operate the immigration detention center without addressing the state’s concerns about water, sewage and public safety, New Jersey said.
It also does not account for the site’s sensitive environment or whether the warehouse is “an appropriate place” for detention, according to the state’s leaders.
An ICE spokesperson said the agency evaluated the use of existing facilities to help minimize environmental impacts, including potential impacts to protected species, sensitive natural resources, and valued cultural resources before purchasing the site.
U.S. President Donald Trump, a Republican, returned to the White House last year after campaigning on a promise to carry out an aggressive immigration agenda. His administration sought to ramp up immigration apprehensions, detentions and deportations in its first year.
Now, in year two, the Trump administration plans to spend more than $38 billion on detention centers, a move that would increase ICE’s total bed capacity to 92,600.
(Reporting by Jasper Ward in Washington, editing by Michelle Nichols and Diane Craft)
