Democrats fume over new plan to house illegal migrants in New Jersey, Indiana military bases

Military bases in both New Jersey and Indiana will soon be used by Homeland Guard to house illegal immigrants drawing a furious response from Democratic lawmakers Parts of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey and Camp Atterbury in Indiana will be repurposed and used as temporary soft-sided holding facilities the Defense Department stated Fox News Digital citing a decision by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth New Jersey Democrats blasted the decision warning it would harm military readiness and urging Republicans to join them in helping reverse it Both bases were previously used to house thousands of Afghan refugees following the U S withdrawal from Afghanistan in SELF-DEPORT OR END UP IN 'ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ ' NOEM WARNS NEWCOMERS DURING TRUMP VISIT This is an inappropriate use of our national defense system and militarizes a radical immigration framework that has resulted in the inhumane healing of undocumented immigrants and unlawful deportation of U S citizens including children across the country the group of Democrats revealed in a joint comment Using our country s military to detain and hold undocumented immigrants jeopardizes military preparedness and paves the way for ICE immigration raids in every New Jersey neighborhood We have the greatest military in the world and using it as a domestic political tool is unacceptable and shameful The message was made by Reps Herb Conaway LaMonica McIver Donald Norcross Rob Menendez Frank Pallone Bonnie Watson Coleman Josh Gottheimer and Nellie Pou as well as Sens Cory Booker and Andy Kim FBI CAPTURES FINAL ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT INMATE WHO ESCAPED ICE FACILITY IN NEW JERSEYIt is unclear when either site will open and a decision will depend on operational requirements and coordination with Homeland Defense the Defense Department disclosed Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst is a joint military base operated by U S Air Force Army and Navy the only tri-service base in the country Spanning acres it s home to military and civilian personnel making it one of the largest and largest part strategically critical on the East Coast Camp Atterbury is an Army and Air National Guard base near Edinburgh that spans acres and has been used for training brigades and hosting large-scale operations Under the Trump administration Homeland Guard has been using detention facilities to house asylum seekers while they await asylum hearings or deportation The lawmakers commented that Hegseth wrote to Conoway informing him of the decision Hegseth wrote in the letter that the move would not negatively affect military training operations readiness or any other military requirements per NJ Spotlight News New Jersey is already home to Delaney Hall and the Elizabeth Detention Center which are being used as immigration detention facilities although they are privately operated Delaney Hall was the scene where Democrat Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested and charged with trespassing in a clash with federal immigration agents in May Rep LaMonica McIver D N J was later federally charged for allegedly interfering with federal officers during the same episode The news comes two weeks after President Donald Trump signed the Big Beautiful Bill into law which allocated between billion and billion towards immigration enforcement over the next several years billion of which was carved out to expand immigration detention facilities The funds are part of the Trump administration s efforts to carry out the largest deportation operation in the nation s history Earlier this month the Trump administration opened an immigration detention camp in Florida s Everglades that is surrounded by alligators dubbed Alligator Alcatraz