As ICE continues to snap up warehouses across the country, cities have found themselves caught by surprise. It happened in Hutchins. It happened in Surprise, Arizona, and Social Circle, Georgia. And it happened in Roxbury Township, New Jersey, where a warehouse owned by Dalfen Industrial was reportedly sold last week to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for use as an ICE detention facility.
Dalfen Industrial has several offices in North America, including one in Dallas. The company’s CEO is Sean Dalfen, who was named to the D CEO Dallas 500 list in 2024. In addition to leading the company started by his family, Dalfen touts his support of several nonprofit organizations, including Texas Oncology and the Jewish Federation of Dallas. He sits on the board of the latter organization. His wife, Gabriela, immigrated to the United States from Mexico when she was 16.
Repeated requests for comment from Dalfen and the company have gone unanswered. Dalfen Industrial, which primarily deals in industrial properties, announced in January that it had expanded its reach in a deal with Goldman Sachs that allowed the two to acquire a 21-building, 2.1-million-square-foot portfolio from Blackstone and Lincoln Property. The Roxbury facility was purchased in 2023.
D Magazine first learned of the potential sale and its Dallas connection when Bob Witanek, a New Jersey activist, emailed. “I am writing to inform you that Dallas’ own landlord tycoon Sean Dalfen owns a similar warehouse property in Roxbury that he apparently hopes to make millions in profit in a potential sale in ICE which we are fighting in NJ,” he wrote…