ROXBURY - What people say at protests is really not the issue. It's how many show up that counts.

And on Monday, about 500 showed up and stood along Route 10 for more than an hour to protest ICE and in particular, any plans to put a detention center just a few miles to the west.

Point made.

There were signs along the lines of "Melt ICE," "Catholic Bishops say Defund ICE" and others expressing support for all immigrants.

What now seems like a saga without end began in late December when reports surfaced in the Washington Post that ICE was looking to convert a township warehouse into a detention facility. That site has now been identified as 1879 Route 46.

Paul Breda, a school board member in Wharton, was one of those huddled along a narrow sidewalk separating the highway from the Ledgewood Commons mall. Wharton has a diverse population and Breda said he's worried about the impact ICE enforcement has on students.

It snowed in western Morris County overnight, but by 4 p.m. the sky was clear and temperatures were mild. That, and music playing in the background, made for an upbeat atmosphere. Many drivers who traveled by honked their horns in support, although not all. Profane insults were occasionally hurled back and forth.

There were a number of speakers. Neill Clark, a councilman in Sparta, was among them, Clark framed the current times as a defining moment in U.S. history.

Someday, he reasoned, his grandchildren may ask what he did to stop ICE from terrorizing immigrants. He said he wants to tell them that in the very least, he spoke out.

There were many people from the township; but also many from nearby communities. I encountered two women protesters standing side-by-side, one of whom was on a snowbank.

One came from Phillipsburg and the other from Bedminster to stand against ICE.

Bedminster! The home of Trump National.

"I can smell it," said the woman who lived in the township, a comment that certainly captured the mood of the day.

The township council in Roxbury has adopted a resolution opposing an ICE facility in town.

The problem is the resolution may have little or no impact. Generally speaking, the federal government can supersede local laws.

This has led to a Catch 22 situation.

The council says it is doing what it can to oppose ICE.

Protesters, some of whom have been regular attendees at council meetings, are skeptical.

As one speaker said today:

"Written statements .... are not enough."

If there's more the township can do, it hasn't surfaced.