Booker, Conaway, New Jersey Congressional Democrats Condemn Defense Secretary Hegseth’s Decision to Detain Undocumented Immigrants at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst

WASHINGTON, D.C.– Today, U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Andy Kim (D-NJ), along with U.S. Representatives Herb Conaway Jr., MD (D-NJ-03), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ-12), Rob Menendez (D-NJ-08), Frank Pallone (D-NJ-06), Nellie Pou (D-NJ-09), Donald Norcross (D-NJ-01), LaMonica McIver (D-NJ-10), and Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ-05)—issued the following statement after Defense Secretary Hegseth announced his plan to use Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst as a detention site for undocumented immigrants:

“We condemn in the strongest possible terms the decision by the Trump Administration to use Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst as an immigrant detention center. This is an inappropriate use of our national defense system and military resources. Escalating 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.

“We call on our Republican colleagues in New Jersey to join us in urging this Administration to immediately reverse this action. 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.”

To read the letter Congressman Conaway received from Secretary of Defense Hegseth, clickhere.