DHS to hold detained illegal immigrants at Joint Base McGuire-Dix

Secretary Pete Hegseth sent a letter to Rep. Herb Conaway (D-NJ), where he confirmed the plans, saying, "I am writing to inform the Committee that I certify that the provision of Department of Defense real property at Camp Atterbury, Indiana and Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, for temporary use by the Department of Homeland Security to house illegal aliens will not negatively affect military training, operations, readiness, or other military requirements, including National Guard and Reserve readiness."

A Defense Department official who spoke to Task and Purpose said that the timeline for the project is not clear but depends on coordination with DHS. The move will consist of the DHS establishing temporary holding facilities on the base rather than using existing buildings.

The base is just southeast of Trenton, New Jersey, and has multiple units for the National Guard as well as Army, Navy, and Marine reserve troops. The Department of Defense has coordinated other logistical projects with DHS to assist in Trump's effort to crack down on illegal immigration.

"Alligator Alcatraz," a temporary detention facility for criminal illegal immigrants in Florida, is being guarded by National Guard troops. The National Guard has also accompanied ICE on different immigration raids and assisted in quelling violent anti-ICE riots in California when the president deployed the National Guard in LA.

New Jersey Democrats have lashed back at the decision from Hegseth, claiming that using the base for detaining illegal immigrants will hamper the military's ability and readiness.

"This is an inappropriate use of our national defense system and militarizes 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," a group of New Jersey Democrats said in a joint statement posted to social media.

“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,” the lawmakers added.