ICE Detainees Set To Be Held At Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst

JOINT BASE McGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, NJ — New Jersey's largest military base will be used to hold immigrants being detained by the Department of Homeland Security, a move being slammed by most of New Jersey's Congressional delegation.

Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst is one of two bases designated for detention sites in a letter from U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to members of Congress. The 42,000-acre base that is home to U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force units straddles Burlington and Ocean counties and hosts training for all three branches among other activities.

Rep. Herb Conaway, who represents New Jersey's 3rd District, was among the lawmakers to receive Hegseth's July 15 letter, which was first reported by New Jersey Spotlight. The letter also named Camp Atterbury in Indiana as chosen "for temporary use by the Department of Homeland Security to house illegal aliens."

Hegseth said the detention operations "will not negatively affect military training, operations, readiness, or other military requirements, including National Guard and Reserve readiness."

"We condemn in the strongest possible terms the decision by the Trump Administration to use Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst as an immigrant detention center. This is an inappropriate use of our national defense system and military resources," said Conaway, whose district encompasses Burlington County, who denounced the plans in a joint statement with U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Andy Kim and Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman, Rob Menendez, Frank Pallone, Nellie Pou, Donald Norcross, LaMonica McIver, and Josh Gottheimer.

"Escalating a radical immigration policy that has resulted in the inhumane treatment of undocumented immigrants and unlawful deportation of U.S. citizens, including children, across the country," the statement said.

"We call on our Republican colleagues in New Jersey to join us in urging this Administration to immediately reverse this action," the statement said. "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 community. We have the greatest military in the world and using it as a domestic political tool is unacceptable and shameful."

Rep. Mikie Sherrill of the 11th District called the plans "a blatant misuse of one of New Jersey’s most critical military assets."

The move to create a detention facility at the base "reduces a vital national security installation to a stage for political theater, which flies in the face of an apolitical military," said Sherrill, who is the Democratic candidate running to become New Jersey's governor.

"Using the base for detention operations risks degrading operational capacity, places an inappropriate burden on our servicemembers, and harms civil-military relations," Sherrill said. "The administration has diverted funding away from supporting our troops for this effort in other states, which is another reason I am strongly opposed to this plan. If DHS needs additional capacity for immigration enforcement, it should seek appropriate funding and resources from Congress, not rely on the military to fill the gap."

No date was announced for the detention site to begin operations, which will depend on coordination among the agencies. Joint Base officials directed a reporter to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for information; ICE directed questions to the Department of Homeland Security.

The Trump administration first said it would use military bases to hold detained immigrants in February but did not specify beyond Fort Bliss in Texas which bases were under consideration.

Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst has been used in the past to provide temporary housing, including in 2021 following the airlifts of refugees from Afghanistan following the U.S. withdrawal of its military presence.

The base hosted 14,500 refugees at the peak of the resettlement efforts.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement already has been housing prisoners in New Jersey, at Delaney Hall in Newark. The facility has been the focus of harsh criticism and protest from immigrant rights advocates and local officials.