By Barbara A. Preston | May 21, 2026
In a pre-emptive measure aimed at safeguarding its local infrastructure and environmental quality from the pressures of federal immigration policy and the burgeoning technology sector, leaders of Montgomery Township, New Jersey, have introduced an ordinance to prohibit the construction of both data centers and immigrant detention facilities within its geographical boundaries.
The ordinance, titled 26-1779, passed its first reading unanimously on May 14 and is slated for a public hearing and final vote on June 18, 2026. It seeks to amend the municipal land development code by explicitly listing data centers and detention centers as prohibited uses.
The action by the Montgomery Township Committee comes as local communities across the country grapple with the dual challenges of federal detention expansion and the massive energy and water demands of the artificial intelligence boom, which is fueling a surge in data center construction.
Advertisement
A major impetus for Montgomery’s move appears to be the recent controversy that has embroiled the nearby community of Roxbury Township, where a local property owner sold a 470,000-square-foot warehouse to the federal government for conversion into a large Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) processing and detention center. The planned Roxbury facility, which is large enough to hold up to 1,500 detainees, is located in the middle of a residential area.
The Roxbury project has faced fierce opposition, including lawsuits filed by New Jersey state and local Roxbury officials, which have temporarily paused construction. The Trump administration in May agreed to conduct an environmental assessment of the site, according to a May 12 joint statement from Gov. Mikie Sherrill, Attorney General Jennifer Davenport, and Roxbury Mayor Shawn Potillo.
During the Montgomery Township Committee meeting, resident Dawn Cohen urged local officials to adopt the ordinance, specifically citing the legal and financial struggles in Roxbury.
"Our neighbors in Roxbury were blindsided earlier this year," Cohen stated, noting that the warehouse sale was executed "with no consideration of the substantial negative repercussions to the local community in terms of environmental impacts such as water and electricity usage or public safety." She argued that local leaders in Roxbury have been "forced to react after the fact with arduous and costly legal challenges to protect the community."
Cohen framed the ordinance as a necessary measure to protect Montgomery from becoming a "target for land grab" and stressed that the township’s infrastructure could not "sustain a sudden large increase of population that will put a strain on our infrastructure."
Former Montgomery Township Mayor Devra Keenan also voiced support for the ordinance during the meeting, prompting discussion on whether existing zoning regulations already covered large storage facilities, saying she was "very happy to see that" an ordinance regarding data centers and "any incarceration place" was coming up.
The ordinance addresses immigration detention centers, which are civil holding facilities used by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) to house asylum seekers and unauthorized immigrants awaiting court hearings or deportation. The stated ERO mission is to protect the homeland through the arrest and removal of those who undermine public safety or the integrity of U.S. immigration laws.
New Jersey is currently home to two detention centers, Delaney Hall in Newark and the Elizabeth Detention Center, although state law prohibits local, county, and state governments from contracting with federal immigration authorities for housing migrant detainees. Despite the state law, private companies may still enter into such contracts.
ICE currently holds Montgomery resident Zhang Ming Xi (John Zhang), known affectionately as “Sushi John” to those who visited his Ya Ya Noodles restaurant in the Montgomery North Shopping Center. ICE arrested Zhang on March 24, 2025 in Newark. He remains in ICE custody at the Elizabeth Contract Detention Facility, located next to the Newark Airport, while he awaits further immigration court hearings and decisions on his legal status.
Public Affairs Officer Chrissy Cuttita of ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Enforcement & Removal Operations (ERO) told The Montgomery News that “ICE arrested Zhang ... because he violated the terms of his lawful admission.”
Cuttita added that ICE "arrests aliens in the United States in violation of immigration law and aims to uphold the integrity of our immigration system while promoting public safety.”
The second half of the ordinance is a response to the rapid proliferation of data centers, driven by the need to power generative artificial intelligence.
Cohen specifically highlighted the environmental threat posed by these centers, noting a "sudden uptick in the construction of data centers to feed the AI boom" across New Jersey and the country. While these facilities generate "huge wealth for their investors," she argued they "impoverish the quality of life in local communities."
Cohen says the residents of the communities that host data center facilities have reported problems including "water shortage, noise pollution, air pollution, increased temperatures and skyrocketing electricity costs."
This local concern mirrors a national debate. Just months prior, in February 2026, the ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee urged Congress to impose a moratorium on new artificial-intelligence data centers, warning that the rapid pace of AI development poses risks to jobs, democracy, and the environment.
"Montgomery prides itself on its environment," Cohen concluded, urging the Township Committee to act immediately before the community could be "blindsided" by a land acquisition for a data center.
The Township Committee will hold the public hearing and final vote at their June 18 meeting.
