Overview
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth certified Camp Atterbury in Indiana and Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey on July 15 for temporary DHS use to house migrants awaiting deportation.
- DHS will erect temporary soft-sided holding facilities on the bases, with arrival timelines still pending coordination between Defense and Homeland Security.
- Hegseth maintains that using base property for detention will not harm military training, operations or National Guard and Reserve readiness.
- Democratic lawmakers and civil-rights groups argue that repurposing military installations for immigration enforcement jeopardizes operational resources and civil liberties.
- Both bases previously sheltered Afghan and Ukrainian refugees, a factor officials cited in selecting sites for expanding migrant detention capacity.