Immigrant detainees to be held at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth confirmed the department's intentions in a July 15 letter to U.S. Rep. Herb Conaway (D-3), who sits on the House Veterans' Affairs Committee and whose district includes portions of the 42,000-acre facility. The decision was first reported by NJ Spotlight News.
"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," Hegseth wrote.
Representatives for Conaway did not immediately return a request for comment.
According to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, or TRAC, the Department of Homeland Security currently houses about 1,000 detained undocumented immigrants at two facilities in North Jersey — Delaney Hall in Newark and the Elizabeth Detention Center. TRAC is a nonpartisan research center that analyzes federal documents.
Delaney Hall, one of the largest immigrant detention centers in the Untied States, has been a regular site for protests since President Donald Trump was inaugurated in January.
In May, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-10) were arrested following incidents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers outside the facility. The case against Baraka was dismissed, but McIver was indicted on charges that she assaulted, resisted, impeded and interfered with federal officers.
More: NJ Rep. LaMonica McIver makes court appearance for assault charges in Newark ICE incident
It was not immediately clear how many undocumented immigrants would be detained at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. A spokesperson for the base and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately return requests for comment.
In February, the New York Times reported that the Trump Administration planned to hold undocumented immigrants at numerous military facilities across the country, specifically citing Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. That initiative got a huge boost this month when Congress passed a spending bill that authorized $168 billion for immigration enforcement, a nearly fivefold increase from current spending.
More: See how ICE targets immigrants appearing at routine court hearings
Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst is the only tri-service military installation in the country, operated jointly by the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force. It was created in a 2009 realignment that combined the operations of Fort Dix, McGuire Air Force Base and Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst.
The base is perhaps best known as the site of the 1937 Hindenburg disaster.
Mike Davis is an investigative reporter with the Asbury Park Press, where he's covered local news, politics, transportation and the cannabis industry. His work has changed laws, prompted government investigations and even won a few awards, which make his parents very proud. Contact him at mdavis@app.com, @byMikeDavis on social media platforms or send an encrypted message via Signal @bymikedavis.22.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Feds: Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst to hold immigrant detainees
Solve the daily Crossword
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Hunter Biden says his father was on Ambien before 2024 debate disaster: ‘A deer in headlights'
Hunter Biden has claimed that his father Joe Biden was groggy from taking the sleeping aid Ambien during his presidential debate against Donald Trump last year, accounting for his disastrous performance. 'I know exactly what happened in that debate,' Hunter told YouTube personality Andrew Callaghan in an interview released on Monday. 'He flew around the world. He's 81 years old. He's tired. They give him Ambien to be able to sleep and he gets up on the stage and looks like a deer in the headlights.' The veteran Democrat cut a frail figure when he took to the CNN debate stage in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 27 last year to battle it out with Trump as he sought another four years in the White House. Biden went on to give a series of mangled answers, failing to make the case for his record in the Oval Office or a second term and at one point declared incoherently: 'We finally beat Medicare.' 'I really don't know what he said at the end of that sentence,' his Republican opponent said after one garbled answer. 'I don't think he knows what he said either.' After more than three weeks of pressure from panicked Democrats for Biden to step aside, he finally did so on July 21, paving the way for then-vice president Kamala Harris to run in his stead, only for her to lose to Trump the following November. While the use of Ambien is common for sleep disorders, there was no mention of it among the six medications prescribed to the Democrat that were referenced in his annual physical report published on February 28 2024, signed off by Biden's presidential physician Dr. Kevin O'Connor. In the same interview, Hunter noted that there was little opposition to Biden running again prior to the televised head-to-head: 'The people who came out against him were nobody, except… Speaker Emeritus [Nancy] Pelosi did not give a full-throated endorsement. 'The entirety of the progressive side of the Democratic Party said Joe Biden has got more of our agenda accomplished in four years than any president in history.' That changed in the aftermath of his father's very public humiliation, Hunter alleged. 'They said, 'We are going to blow up the party if you don't drop out. We're going to protest this all the way up for the next month, all the way up to the convention.'' Picking up his father's story, Hunter told Callaghan: 'He gets over the hump, he goes and does the [ABC News anchor George] Stephanopoulos [interview]. Everybody goes, 'OK, that's not enough, we got to see him give a press conference.'' What followed was another troubling public appearance on July 12 at which Biden appeared alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and accidentally referred to him as 'Vladimir,' apparently confusing him with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Five days after that, with the pressure campaign on him to step aside only intensifying, Biden was diagnosed with Covid-19. 'He woke up in the morning and he had a severe case of Covid, and the pictures of him getting on and off the plane were just devastating, and then the vultures descended,' Hunter remembered. 'So Joe Biden, I think, did the most selfless thing that I know of any politician in the history of this f***ing country. He stepped aside to save the party.' In the same interview, Hunter lashed out at Hollywood actor George Clooney who wrote a New York Times editorial last year calling on the president to drop out of the race after becoming concerned by his appearance at a charity gala alongside Barack Obama. 'F*** you. What do you have to do with f***ing anything?' Hunter said angrily of Clooney. While the president's son made his opinion clear on why the Democratic ticket failed at the polls last year, others have pointed to his own role in bringing down his father's presidency. A lightning rod for MAGA conspiracy theories, Hunter's prosecution on tax and gun charges led to speculation that the president would pardon his son, which he denied – and then did anyway – leading some to feel he had received favorable treatment because of his privileged position. The book 2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America by Josh Dawsey, Tyler Pager and Isaac Arnsdorf argues that Biden was preoccupied with the prospect of his son going to prison at the height of election campaigning last summer, causing him to take his eye off the ball.
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Northrop Grumman raises 2025 profit forecast on strong demand for weapons
By Utkarsh Shetti and Mike Stone (Reuters) -Northrop Grumman raised its annual profit forecast on Tuesday, betting on sustained demand for its military aircraft and defense systems as geopolitical tensions simmer. A protracted Russia-Ukraine war and conflict in the Middle East have boosted demand for weapons from defense contractors such as Northrop. The company, which makes the B-2 Spirit stealth bombers that were used in U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear sites in June, is also expected to benefit from President Donald Trump's defense budget for next year that seeks more missiles and drones. Northrop had cut its 2025 profit forecast in April to between $24.95 per share and $25.35 per share after manufacturing costs spiraled in an attempt to ramp production of its B-21 stealth bombers, causing a $477 million hit. It now expects annual profit per share of $25.00 to $25.40 Northrop, however, narrowed its revenue forecast for the year to between $42.05 billion and $42.25 billion, compared with $42 billion to $42.5 billion earlier. Despite the strong demand, supply chain issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic linger, affecting production in industries including defense. The defense contractor's second-quarter sales rose to $10.35 billion from $10.22 billion a year ago. It reported a quarterly net income of $1.17 billion, or a per-share profit of $8.15, compared with the $940 million, or $6.36 per share, a year ago.
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Bessent calls for internal review of Fed and 'deeper reforms' of big bank rules
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday took aim at both the Federal Reserve and the rules the Fed enforces as a supervisor of big banks. He said on X that there should be a review of the central bank's $2.5 billion renovation of its headquarters and a review of its non-monetary policy operations, arguing that 'significant mission creep and institutional growth have taken the Fed into areas that potentially jeopardize the independence of its core monetary policy mission.' He posted the comments on the same day he spoke at the opening of a Fed conference designed to review the capital framework governing big banks. That conference continues Tuesday. There he made a separate call for 'deeper reforms' of the regulations governing the nation's biggest banks, arguing that 'outdated capital requirements' impose 'unnecessary burdens on financial institutions.' Specifically he suggested that regulators scrap a dual capital structure proposed during the last administration but never enacted, calling it 'flawed.' "We need deeper reforms rooted in a long-term blueprint for innovation, financial stability, and resilient growth," Bessent said in his remarks. Bessent is among the candidates being considered to replace Jerome Powell as chair of the central bank once Powell's term expires in 10 months. President Trump and other White House officials have been hammering Powell and the Fed over the slow pace of interest rate cuts, with none being made so far in 2025, as well as the costs involved in the Fed's $2.5 billion renovation of its headquarters complex along the National Mall in Washington. Bessent joined that chorus on Monday. 'While I have no knowledge or opinion on the legal basis for the massive building renovations being undertaken on Constitution Avenue, a review of the decision to undertake such a project by an institution reporting operating losses of more than $100 billion per year should be conducted,' Bessent said in his Monday post on X. Trump has considered firing Powell and has encouraged him to resign. Powell has said repeatedly that he intends to serve out his term as chair and that his removal is not permitted by law. Bessent on Monday expressed support for the Fed's independence on the subject of monetary policy, saying that autonomy is 'a jewel box that should be walled off' and that the Fed's independence 'is a cornerstone of continued US economic growth and stability.' But the White House has also made it known that it wants greater control over the Fed's operations outside monetary policy, including the supervision of the nation's biggest banks. Bessent earlier this year said he would be coordinating a broad re-examination of financial regulation, with an eye toward making it easier for banks to lend as a way of boosting the US economy. And he said again Monday that the Treasury would be playing a central role. "The department will break through policy inertia, settle turf battles, drive consensus, and motivate action to ensure no single regulator holds up reform," Bessent said of the Treasury. "We need deeper reforms rooted in a long-term blueprint for innovation, financial stability, and resilient growth." US regulators have already proposed one of the most dramatic rollbacks of bank capital rules since the 2008 financial crisis, saying last month they wanted to alter the so-called enhanced supplementary leverage ratio (eSLR). Banks have complained that this ratio penalizes them for holding lower-risk assets such as Treasury bonds. Doing away with it "should simplify bank capital management" and "that will bring down costs and help banks more effectively manage their capital levels," TD Securities analyst Jaret Seiberg said in a Tuesday morning research note. Even with proposed curtailing this leverage ratio, large banks would still be bound by their risk weighted capital constraints, Seiberg said. "This is not going to produce material capital relief for banks," Seiberg added. More regulatory changes for big banks could still be on the way. Michelle Bowman, the Fed's top banking regulator appointed by Trump, said in a speech last month that revisiting the eSLR requirement is just the start of broader capital rollback considerations. "More work on capital requirements remains, especially to consider how they have evolved and whether changes in market conditions have revealed issues that should be addressed," she said. Click here for in-depth analysis of the latest stock market news and events moving stock prices