Latest news with #illegalimmigrants
Fox News
17 hours ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Democrats fume over new plan to house illegal migrants in New Jersey, Indiana military bases
Military bases in both New Jersey and Indiana will soon be used by Homeland Security to house illegal immigrants, drawing a furious response from Democratic lawmakers. Parts of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey and Camp Atterbury in Indiana will be repurposed and used as "temporary soft-sided holding facilities," the Defense Department told Fox News Digital, citing a decision by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. New Jersey Democrats blasted the decision, warning it would harm military readiness and urging Republicans to join them in helping reverse it. Both bases were previously used to house thousands of Afghan refugees following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. "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," the group of Democrats said in a joint statement. "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 statement was made by Reps. Herb Conaway, LaMonica McIver, Donald Norcross, Rob Menendez, Frank Pallone, Bonnie Watson Coleman, Josh Gottheimer and Nellie Pou as well as Sens. Cory Booker and Andy Kim. It is unclear when either site will open and a decision will depend on operational requirements and coordination with Homeland Security, the Defense Department said. Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst is a joint military base operated by U.S. Air Force, Army and Navy — the only tri-service base in the country. Spanning 42,00 acres, it's home to 45,000 military and civilian personnel, making it one of the largest and most strategically important on the East Coast. Camp Atterbury is an Army and Air National Guard base near Edinburgh that spans 34,000 acres and has been used for training brigades and hosting large-scale operations. Under the Trump administration, Homeland Security has been using detention facilities to house migrants while they await asylum hearings or deportation. The lawmakers said that Hegseth wrote to Conoway informing him of the decision. Hegseth wrote in the letter that the move would not negatively affect military training, operations, readiness, or any other military requirements, per NJ Spotlight News. New Jersey is already home to Delaney Hall and the Elizabeth Detention Center which are being used as immigration detention facilities, although they are privately operated. Delaney Hall was the scene where Democrat Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested and charged with trespassing in a clash with federal immigration officials in May. Rep. LaMonica McIver, D‑N.J., was later federally charged for allegedly interfering with federal officers during the same incident. The news comes two weeks after President Donald Trump signed the Big Beautiful Bill into law, which allocated between $150 billion and $170 billion towards immigration enforcement over the next several years, $45 billion of which was carved out to expand immigration detention facilities. The funds are part of the Trump administration's efforts to carry out the largest deportation operation in the nation's history. Earlier this month, the Trump administration opened an immigration detention camp in Florida's Everglades that is surrounded by alligators dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz."
Fox News
2 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Trump's DOJ requests California sheriffs' data on criminal illegal immigrants in custody
Print Close By Alexandra Koch Published July 17, 2025 The Department of Justice on Thursday issued requests to sheriffs in multiple large California counties—including Los Angeles and San Francisco counties—for lists of all inmates in their jails who are not citizens of the United States. The requests also include the illegal immigrant's charges or conviction, and their scheduled release dates, according to a news release from the DOJ's Office of Public Affairs. "In recent years, the United States suffered an invasion of illegal aliens at an unprecedented scale," officials wrote in the release. "Far too many of those illegal aliens have gone on to commit crimes on American soil, including rapes, murders, and other violent crimes. Today's data requests are designed to assist federal immigration authorities in prioritizing the removal of illegal aliens who committed crimes after illegally entering the United States." Although every illegal immigrant by definition has violated federal law, the DOJ said those who go on to commit crimes after coming into the country illegally pose a heightened risk to the nation's safety and security. TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SUES LOS ANGELES OVER SANCTUARY POLICIES THAT 'IMPEDE' ICE OPERATIONS "Removing criminal illegal aliens is this Administration's highest priority," Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote in the release. "I look forward to cooperating with California's county sheriffs to accomplish our shared duty of keeping Californians and all Americans safe and secure." The DOJ said it "hopes" California sheriffs will voluntarily produce the requested information, but if necessary, the department will "pursue all available means of obtaining the data, including through subpoenas or other compulsory process." DOJ SLAMS NEWSOM'S 'CRASS POLITICAL STUNT' OVER TRUMP'S CALL-UP OF NATIONAL GUARD AMID LA ANTI-ICE RIOTS The requests come weeks after Border Czar Tom Homan, on Fox News' "Kudlow," vowed to "double down and triple down" on sanctuary cities that are obstructing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations. "President [Donald] Trump made it clear two weeks ago, we are going to double down and triple down the sanctuary cities," Homan said. "If we can't arrest that bad guy in the jail, then we'll go to the community and we'll find him." CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Multiple lawsuits have been filed by the state against the Trump administration regarding immigration enforcement. Most recently, the administration filed a request with the courts to suspend a temporary restraining order that was issued Friday against ICE after a Biden-appointed judge ruled the agency likely violated constitutional protections during raids in Los Angeles. Fox News Digital's Greg Wehner and Fox News' Matt Finn contributed to this report. Print Close URL
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Kristi Noem restarts third-country deportations for five 'depraved monsters' as ICE kicks into high gear
President Donald Trump 's Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has continued deportations of illegal immigrants to third-party countries. Five migrants with criminal records were flown to Eswatini this week even though none of them originated from the small country in southern Africa, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin announced. The Supreme Court last month ruled that the Trump administration could continue its deportation of migrants to nations that were not their countries of origin. Following that ruling, the eight men from Asia and Latin America at the center of the case were deported earlier this month to South Sudan. Migrants who landed in Eswatini on Tuesday are originally from Cuba, Jamaica, Laos, Vietnam and Yemen. It's not clear when the administration struck a deal with the African country to accept migrants. '[A] safe third country deportation flight to Eswatini in Southern Africa has landed— This flight took individuals so uniquely barbaric that their home countries refused to take them back,' McLaughlin wrote on X on Tuesday night. 'These depraved monsters have been terrorizing American communities but thanks to Trump and Noem they are off of American soil.' She listed the migrants' crimes, which included child rape, murder, robbery, assault, aggravated battery of a police officer and grand theft auto. A July 9 memo on the operations claims that third country deportation flights could take place within six hours of migrants being notified. Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Rodd Lyons said in that memo that there would typically be a 24-hour period between when migrants are informed and when they are deported. Asked if the men who were given prison sentences for their crimes remain in the custody of law enforcement in Africa, McLaughlin told NBC News: 'That's up to Eswatini.' The country of Eswatini is landlocked between South Africa and Mozambique. Its land area is smaller than the state of New Jersey and has a population of 1.2 million, according to a 2023 estimate. Eswatini is Africa's last remaining absolute monarchy. Jamaican citizen (left) convicted of murder and robbery was among those deported on Tuesday's flight, along with Laos citizen (right) convicted of second-degree murder and burglary It's not immediately clear whether more migrants will be departed to Eswatini and what terms the U.S. reached in its agreement to send convicted criminals and illegal immigrants there. The administration has a goal of deporting 1 million immigrants every year. By June more than 100,000 illegal immigrants were sent out of the country. Off track of Trump reaching the goal by the end of the first year of his second term, deportation flights have been increasing in recent months after setbacks earlier in the administration. ICE conducted 190 deportation flights in May alone.
Fox News
6 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Chinese illegal immigrant crossings that surged during Biden admin a 'national security concern,' expert warns
One border security expert said the massive number of Chinese illegal immigrants who crossed the United States border during the Biden administration poses a "national security concern." U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported 122 illegal immigrants to China June 3, many of whom were convicted of murder, drug trafficking, rape and human smuggling. Officials said the individuals were taken to China on a "special high risk charter flight." The Department of Justice on Tuesday charged seven Chinese nationals after they allegedly operated a multimillion- dollar marijuana trafficking ring. According to the Justice Department, the suspects smuggled illegal immigrants through the U.S.-Mexico border to work in marijuana grow houses. "This case pulls back the curtain on a sprawling criminal enterprise that exploited our immigration system and our communities for personal gain," said U.S. Attorney Leah Foley. "These defendants allegedly turned quiet homes across the Northeast into hubs for a criminal enterprise, building a multimillion-dollar black market operation off the backs of an illegal workforce and using our neighborhoods as cover. That ends today." In fiscal year 2024 alone, according to the House Committee on Homeland Security, over 24,376 Chinese nationals were encountered and 24,214 were apprehended. In March 2024 alone, border encounters of Chinese nationals increased over 8,000% when compared to March 2021. The report was released in April 2024. Lora Ries, director of the Heritage Foundation's Border Security and Immigration Center and former Department of Homeland Security acting deputy chief of staff, told Fox News Digital in an interview that the sharp increase in Chinese nationals crossing the southern border is "absolutely" a national security concern. "The numbers rose rapidly during the Biden administration. I mean, pre-Biden, Customs and Border Protection would see about 1,000 Chinese nationals a month nationwide, whether that was at the ports of entry or between ports of entry. And, during Biden's four years, that rose rapidly to 2,000, up to 7,000 a month. It even hit over 8,000 one month in December of 2023. And most of these were between the ports of entry," Ries said. Ries fears the Chinese Communist Party was using the southern border as a "tactic" against the U.S. during former President Biden's administration. "Given the many tactics that the Chinese Communist Party uses against the U.S. — whether that is sending fentanyl precursor ingredients to Mexico to be smuggled into the U.S., killing hundreds of thousands of Americans, COVID-19 from Wuhan, spy balloons, buying farmland near military bases — we have to assume that the CCP took advantage of the open border during Biden's years and sent many Chinese nationals with mal-intent," Ries said.
Times
6 days ago
- Politics
- Times
Ex-Scotland Office minister joins call to purge illegal immigrants
A former Scotland Office minister has been condemned as 'morally repugnant' for uniting with right-wing MPs in calling for illegal immigrants to be identified, detained and deported. John Lamont, the Scottish Conservative MP who was previously the shadow Scottish secretary, was one of 16 MPs to sign a motion to 'restore confidence' in the 'security of our borders', alongside the former Reform UK members James McMurdock and Rupert Lowe. The early-day motion 'urges the government to implement a comprehensive national strategy to identify, detain, and deport all individuals found to be residing in the United Kingdom illegally'. It expresses grave concern at the continued presence of more than a million illegal immigrants in the UK and notes the considerable cost to the taxpayer in housing, processing and supporting individuals with no legal right to remain.
