Trump considers military bases for migrant detention. Is Homestead a possibility?
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have been briefed on a Trump administration proposal to house thousands of migrants at U.S. military facilities in order to make up for a shortage of traditional detention space that’s stemming the president’s sweeping deportation goals.
“The Trump administration is asking a whole bunch of different military bases, ‘Give us the feasibility of housing migrants at your base,’” Rep. Adam Smith, the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, told The Miami Herald in an interview Friday.
Smith said he was made aware of the plan during a meeting with the commander of U.S. Northern Command, Gen. Gregory M. Guillot. Specific bases have not been selected, according to the congressman, but “a couple dozen bases or more” are being considered.
On Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security dispatched a senior counselor to an appearance at Homestead Air Reserve Base with Gov. Ron DeSantis to highlight a new agreement between the state, local sheriffs and the federal government on immigration enforcement. The base, located about 25 miles south of Miami and home to 2,500 military personnel, is seen as a possible venue for the administration’s emerging strategy, particularly due to its proximity to the Caribbean and Latin America.
Answering a reporter’s question, DeSantis said he could see the Trump administration using the base to facilitate deportations.
“This is obviously a pretty big installation. It has easy access to the Americas, and that’s where they’re flying people back. So, it’s possible that they’re doing that,” he said.
But if the preliminary undisclosed base proposal moves closer to reality, expect vocal opposition from some Democrats.
“I don’t think we need to warehouse migrants in this way,” said Smith. “I think there’s a vastly more humane way particularly now that the flow is under control. We’re not in any sort of emergent situation where there’s thousands of them pouring in.”
The White House did not respond to an inquiry on Smith’s assertion about their plan.
As Immigration and Customs Enforcement continues to make arrests as a show of force, they’re facing a shrinking amount of space in prisons and jails to hold detainees, leading the White House to expand its options.
“I have no doubt that ICE is trying to make as many arrests as they can, but at some point you’re going to run out of space. When ICE makes enough arrests, it fills the bed space,” said Andrew Arthur, a resident fellow in law and policy at the Center for Immigration Studies. “It’s not the optimal way to do it if you hold someone on a military base. It’s a lot better to use the space they already have.”
Smith said filling military bases with migrants could also threaten the readiness of U.S. military forces.
“While they’re at these bases, they are regularly in training so they’re ready to be deployed. And if instead of that they have to house and accommodate migrants, they are not meeting their training requirements. And this happened, when they did this … years ago, [when] Trump did this, readiness fell off, and people fell behind in their preparation and had to catch up.”
READ MORE: Feds ordered him deported, but lost him. He’s now accused of murdering 2 South Florida men
In 2021, a pair of Republican congressmen from Texas objected to a Biden administration plan to house undocumented migrants at Fort Hood as a result of the crisis at the southern border, calling it “irresponsible and a direct threat to the health and safety of Central Texans.”
“Our military installments simply cannot be used in this manner, and our work will continue to ensure that no resources are directed away from the training and readiness of our armed forces,” wrote Reps. Roger Williams and John Carter in a letter to then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
There isn’t any data-based evidence that U.S. military preparedness suffered during these periods. And placing undocumented immigrants on military bases has a long precedent.
President Jimmy Carter used Eglin Air Force Base to house Cuban refugees and a repurposed military base in Fort Walton Beach to serve as a processing center for the influx of migrants seeking asylum.
FLORIDA POLITICS With feds out of Florida beds, sheriffs say they’re ready to hold undocumented criminals
President Barack Obama tapped military bases in Texas, California, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas to house nearly 16,000 unaccompanied migrant children for several months during his administration in order to manage a migrant humanitarian crisis.
In June of 2018, a group of Florida Democrats attempted to inspect the Homestead detention facility but were denied entry.
Trump has not commented on the military base plan specifically but delivered an ambiguous answer this week to a question regarding the use of private companies to assist with deportations.
“I don’t think it’s necessary, our people are doing a phenomenal job,” he said, before adding, “I wouldn’t be opposed to it necessarily.”
This story was originally published February 28, 2025 at 6:06 PM.
