Following a classified Department of Defense (DOD) briefing, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) raised concerns about public safety and national security tied to the detention of non-citizens with ties to criminal and drug networks. The briefing followed DOD’s approval of a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) request for assistance in expanding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention operations — a move that could involve the use of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst (JBMDL).

“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 asked. “Or is it better that they be in a secure location, isolated from the surrounding community where they can do no further harm to our children and those vulnerable to illicit drug sales, overdose, and addiction?”

Smith, who represents a district that includes much of JBMDL, said he had requested the DOD briefing to understand the federal government’s plans to assist DHS in housing certain low-threat detainees. Under the plan, the DOD will provide logistical support — including air conditioning, water, and base infrastructure — while DHS retains responsibility for detention operations and transport.

Currently, Fort Bliss is being expanded to house 2,000 detainees by the end of September, with capacity expected to increase to 5,000 in 2026. If additional space is required, JBMDL in New Jersey and Camp Atterbury in Indiana may be used to accommodate up to 1,000 detainees each.

In a memo shared by Smith, the Library of Congress’s Congressional Research Service confirmed JBMDL’s history of serving as a temporary housing site for migrants and evacuees. The base housed 16,500 Afghan refugees in 2021 following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, 500 Haitian evacuees in 2010 after the country’s devastating earthquake, and more than 4,000 ethnic Albanian refugees during the Kosovo conflict in the late 1990s.

“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,” said Smith. “The DOD knows our facility has been used successfully for temporary migrant housing in the past and, if called upon, will step up and serve our national needs with excellence once again.”

Smith also noted that JBMDL is already home to the Federal Correctional Institution at Fort Dix, a federal prison housing over 4,000 inmates, further underscoring the base’s capability in handling secure facilities.

According to federal law, the Secretary of Defense may assist law enforcement agencies with drug interdiction and efforts to combat transnational organized crime. Detainees deemed high-level threats will not be housed at JBMDL but will remain in maximum-security facilities, including Guantanamo Bay.