Ban the use of military installations for immigration detention.

Military facilities should not be used for immigration law enforcement purposes. Currently, the largest immigration detention facility by capacity is Camp East Montana at Fort Bliss, located outside El Paso, Texas. Camp East Montana has received considerable attention from civil society organizations and the media for its squalid conditions and rampant physical and sexual abuse by facility staff. In fact, a local medical examiner determined that a detainee at Camp East Montana was murdered, likely strangled by facility staff. The military detention camp at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has also been used for immigration detention since 2025. Of course, the human rights record of Guantanamo Bay and its history as a habeas black hole hardly need reiteration. The Trump administration plans to expand its use of military facilities for immigration detention in the near future. Installations of interest include Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey and Camp Atterbury in Indiana. These activities align with the Trump administration’s broader effort to use the United States military for internal civilian law enforcement.

The use of military facilities for immigration detention must be outlawed. These conditions endanger the lives of immigrant detainees and pose a grave threat to the sanctity of due process and habeas corpus rights. Furthermore, the involvement of the United States military with immigration law enforcement is highly inappropriate and undermines public trust and confidence in our armed forces.