Feds eye migrant detention camp here
Proposal calls for study of temporary housing at MCAS
A U.S. Navy draft memo outlines plans for construction of “austere” detention camps for immigrants on military bases in Arizona, California and Alabama and proposes further study of housing an undetermined number of migrants at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma.
A copy of the memo was obtained by Time magazine and its contents are detailed in a story published Friday on Time.com. The document illustrates the escalating role of the military in implementing President Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy for undocumented immigrants caught crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.
Time reported that the Navy is preparing to construct “sprawling” detention centers on remote military bases to house tens of thousands of immigrants awaiting civilian criminal proceedings.
The Yuma Sun reported on Friday that the Secretary of Defense had approved a Department of Justice request for 21 military lawyers who will be sent to Arizona, Texas and New Mexico to help prosecute illegal immigration cases. The lawyers will be appointed as special assistant U.S. attorneys and will assist federal prosecutors in Yuma and other cities in New Mexico and Texas, according to spokesman Army Lt. Col. Jamie Davis. It’s unclear whether these lawyers would be involved in the prosecution of the immigrants housed in the proposed detention centers.
In response to a request for more information on the role the Yuma base would have in implementing these plans, Capt. Gabriel Adibe, communications director at MCAS Yuma, said, “I don’t have any information to provide at this time.”
In addition, The Associated Press obtained a Pentagon memo sent to members of Congress noting that it had been asked to make space available on military bases for as many as 20,000 unaccompanied migrant children detained after illegally crossing the border. The Pentagon was asked to have temporary fa-
cilities ready as early as July and through the end of the year.
The request for temporary tent cities — amid a growing political battle over detained migrants — was made by the Department of Health and Human Services and accepted by the Defense Department, Davis said. It said HHS personnel or contractors “will provide all care for the children,” including supervision, meals, clothing, medical services, transportation and other daily needs.
Time reported that the Navy plans to build tent cities to house 25,000 migrants at abandoned airfields near Mobile, Ala., and as many as 47,000 people at the former Naval Weapons Station Concord, near San Francisco. Another facility at Camp Pendleton in California could house as many as 47,000 people, Time said.
The memo proposes further study of housing an undetermined number of migrants at MCAS Yuma, according to Time.
The document estimates that the Navy would spend about $233 million to construct and operate a facility for 25,000 people for a six-month time period. It suggests these tent cities be built to last between six months and one year, Time reported.
The magazine said Phyllis L. Bayer, assistant secretary of the Navy for energy, installations and environment, wrote the memo in anticipation of a request from the Department of Homeland Security. It recommends Navy Secretary Richard Spencer approve the plan and send it to Defense Secretary James Mattis.
“Using military bases in this way is not new,” Time stated, noting that in 2014, the Obama Administration placed around 7,700 migrant children on bases in Texas, California and Oklahoma. The temporary shelters were shuttered after four months.