Alien detainees linked to drug cartels may be held at Joint Base in New Jersey under new federal plan
TOMS RIVER, NJ — Non-citizens suspected of ties to transnational criminal organizations or drug activity may soon be temporarily detained at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst (JBMDL), as part of a new federal initiative involving the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security.
The base partially located in Ocean and Burlington Counties has been used before to house foriegn nationals.
The plan, outlined in a recent briefing to Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), would allow the Department of Homeland Security to use military facilities for the detention and removal of certain non-citizen individuals deemed low-risk but connected to drug trafficking or organized crime. Smith, whose district includes much of JBMDL, called the plan a “better alternative” to allowing potentially dangerous individuals to remain on U.S. streets.
“Would it be better to have the people who entered the U.S. illegally and ‘have a nexus to a transnational criminal organization or criminal drug activity’ just walking around our streets and threatening the well-being of our young people,” Smith said following the Department of Defense briefing.
The Department of Defense has approved DHS’s request for limited support of ICE operations, including housing up to 1,000 detainees each at JBMDL in New Jersey and Camp Atterbury in Indiana, if needed. The facilities would serve as overflow locations once Fort Bliss in Texas reaches its expanded capacity of 5,000 detainees early next year.
Under the proposal, the Department of Defense will provide basic logistical support — including shelter infrastructure, air conditioning, and water services — but DHS will retain control over security, detention, and removal operations.
Smith, the longest-serving member of New Jersey’s congressional delegation, emphasized that JBMDL has a long history of supporting temporary migrant housing in times of national need. A Congressional Research Service memo he requested noted the base’s prior roles in housing:
- About 16,500 Afghan refugees after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan
- 500 Haitian evacuees following the 2010 earthquake
- More than 4,000 ethnic Albanian refugees from Kosovo during the early 2000s
“I have represented parts of this great military facility for more than 40 years, and I am proud to have worked to expand, strengthen and save JBMDL from multiple attempted base closings,” Smith said. “The DOD knows that our facility has been used successfully for temporary migrant housing in the past.”
JBMDL also houses the Federal Correctional Institution at Fort Dix, which has a population of over 4,000 inmates. Smith noted that the presence of the federal prison and prior refugee operations make the joint base uniquely equipped to handle this new mission.
Under U.S. law, the Secretary of Defense may support law enforcement agencies in drug interdiction and efforts to combat transnational organized crime. Individuals designated as high-level threats will continue to be held at Guantanamo Bay, not at U.S.-based facilities.
Federal officials have not yet confirmed when or if JBMDL will be activated for this mission.
