The Department of Homeland Security is moving forward with plans to convert two major U.S. military bases into holding centers for illegal immigrants — a decision that has triggered an unexpected wave of outrage from prominent Democratic lawmakers, particularly in New Jersey and Indiana.

According to Fox News, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey and Camp Atterbury in Indiana will soon be transformed into “temporary soft-sided holding facilities,” following an order from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

The backlash from Democrats was swift — and stunningly hypocritical.

“This is an inappropriate use of our national defense system,” a group of New Jersey Democrats declared in a joint statement, accusing the Trump administration of militarizing immigration policy and jeopardizing military readiness. They went so far as to claim it could lead to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids “in every New Jersey community.”

Among the signatories were Sens. Cory Booker and Andy Kim, along with Reps. Donald Norcross, Rob Menendez, Frank Pallone, Bonnie Watson Coleman, Josh Gottheimer, and others.

But just a few years ago, these same Democrats had no problem when President Joe Biden used the exact same military bases to house thousands of Afghan refugees following the disastrous U.S. withdrawal from Kabul in 2021. In fact, many of these lawmakers openly supported Biden’s resettlement efforts and celebrated them as a moral obligation.

A 2021 Pew Research poll found that 75% of Democrats supported the mass admission of Afghan refugees. Apparently, converting military bases into housing centers for foreign nationals was perfectly acceptable—so long as the administration doing it was Democrat-run.

Now that President Trump is using those same resources to enforce immigration law and secure the border, suddenly it’s a national crisis.

Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, one of the nation’s largest and most strategically important military installations, is home to 45,000 personnel across 42,000 acres. Camp Atterbury in Indiana spans another 34,000 acres and serves as a key Army and Air National Guard training ground.

Defense officials have stated that operations, training, and readiness at the two facilities will not be impacted. In a letter to Rep. Herb Conaway (D-N.J.), Defense Secretary Hegseth reaffirmed that national security remains a top priority.

But Democrats aren’t buying it. Their outrage, however, seems more political than principled.

New Jersey already hosts two privately run immigration detention centers—Delaney Hall and the Elizabeth Detention Center. Delaney Hall made headlines in May when Newark’s Democrat Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested for trespassing during a confrontation with federal immigration agents. Another New Jersey lawmaker, Rep. LaMonica McIver, is now facing federal charges for allegedly interfering with officers during the same incident.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration continues to move aggressively on immigration enforcement. Earlier this month, a new facility was opened deep in the Florida Everglades—an area nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz” due to its remote and fortified location.

The moves come on the heels of President Trump’s signing of the Big Beautiful Bill, a sweeping immigration package that allocates up to $170 billion for enforcement, with $45 billion specifically earmarked for detention center expansion.

Even some Democrats are beginning to recognize the effectiveness of Trump’s approach. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a rising Democrat star and potential 2028 presidential contender, acknowledged during an interview on Fox News that “we all know the solution is you’ve got to be able to secure the border.”

“I know that we all know the solution is you’ve got to be able to secure the border, you have to be able to work to get violent criminals out of our neighborhoods,” Moore told anchor Bret Baier.

At the end of the day, the Trump administration is doing exactly what it promised: restoring law and order, securing the homeland, and using available infrastructure to uphold immigration law.

The left can spin it however they want. But America’s military bases are being used to protect American sovereignty—not to serve as shelters for unchecked illegal migration.