Overview

• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth approved Camp Atterbury and Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst for temporary DHS use to establish soft-sided migrant holding facilities.
• The Department of Defense says the conversions will not impede military training, operations, readiness, or National Guard and Reserve activities.
• Officials have not set dates for detainee arrivals, noting that deployment depends on further coordination with DHS and operational requirements.
• New Jersey and Indiana Democratic lawmakers issued joint statements condemning the plan as an inappropriate use of military assets and a risk to base preparedness and humanitarian standards.
• The certification follows the administration’s rapid expansion of detention capacity, which has added about 59,000 beds since January toward a goal of one million undocumented arrests annually.