Facility
military-base
Proposed
Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst NJ — Military ICE Detention
Burlington/Ocean, NJ
1,000 (planned)
Bed capacity
Operator: Department of Defense / DHS
Overview
The Pentagon approved plans to house immigration detainees at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey, part of a broader initiative to use military installations for immigrant detention. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth named it in a July 2025 letter to Congress as available for DHS use.
Key Details
- Location: Burlington and Ocean counties, NJ
- Approved by: Defense Secretary Hegseth (July 15, 2025 letter)
- Planned capacity: Up to 1,000 (shared allocation with Camp Atterbury)
- Status: No firm timeframe for construction or intakes
- Current use: Fort Dix serves as National Guard/reserve training hub
Political Opposition
- Governor Phil Murphy opposed the plan as “gross misuse of U.S. military resources”
- NJ Congressional Democrats issued joint condemnation
- Protests organized at the base
Context
New Jersey faces a double expansion: JBMDL for military-jurisdiction detention plus the Roxbury warehouse for federal processing. This makes New Jersey one of the most contested states in the detention expansion.