“Garden State Gulag”

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Plans to Utilize Burlington County Military Base for Migrant Detention Raise Debate, Protests

The “immigration question” is a debate that is never far from the American consciousness, and has only grown more intense in the past decade. Now, for many South Jersey residents, it has come uncomfortably close to home once again.

In July, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced plans to use Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, known by most Burlington County residents as simply “Fort Dix,” as an immigrant detention facility. New Jersey Congressman Herb Conway was among the first to react publicly, with a video where he referred to the proposed site as “a Garden State Gulag.”
This move comes as just one of the latest in a string of moves by the federal government to crack down on what it says is a wave of migrant criminals. Indeed, the White House’s approach to immigration has been characterized by masked operatives toting rifles in American cities and even accusations of illegal renditioning and torture. Despite those accusations, the Trump administration appears unfazed and even emboldened in the face of protest, with posts on social media taunting immigrants and framing the raids as patriotic and heroic.

Despite this, on Fridays and weekends, outside of the McGuire Gate to the Fort Dix compound, a small crowd of around thirteen to fourteen people can be seen with signs and bullhorns. Their message? They find the notion of keeping immigrants at Fort Dix unacceptable. The protests are manned by members of the Bordentown Bridge Brigade, themselves a chapter of a nationwide network of protestors called Visibility Brigade. As part of a themed protest across the country, they were carrying signs encouraging passersby to “Be Brave With Us.”

A protestor and military veteran who identified himself as Chris claimed leadership over the group:

“We’re primarily supporting our service members, our military families, and our constitution. We’re opposing ICE presence on base, and the proposal to build a concentration camp on base.”

Among the protestors were many family members of servicemembers as well as veterans who had themselves served in the past. One military spouse remarked,

“I’ve talked to many spouses and they have no idea this is happening. I’ve talked to people that think if it’s happening it’s a good thing, so I’d like to educate them on why this is not a good thing, and definitely just getting the word about because a shocking amount of people don’t know it’s happening.”

Amid supportive honks, shouts of encouragement, and some jeers from passersby on top of the August heat, many protestors showed energy and enthusiasm for their stated cause, and they said they primarily hoped to raise awareness to a population they claim is underinformed on the issue. Chris remarked:

“I want to bring much more awareness to the fact that they’re gonna build a concentration camp here. I would like our elected officials to do as much as possible to slow that down while recognizing there is a federal facility here. While it’s not Fort Dix proper, it’s not the Army, but Homeland Security wants to keep an ICE detainee camp here like [the one in Florida, Alligator Alcatraz]. They [Department of Homeland Security] are rounding people up with no warrants, they’re hiding their identities, they’re acting like the MAGA brownshirts.”

There was no formal response from the base in any publication or social media, and according to the protestors representatives came out to inquire on the nature of the protests and even give advice on where they could find the most engagement with passing traffic. Time will tell if this unofficial endorsement of the protests will stand.

This is not the first time that locals to the area have been swept up in ICE raids and the debate surrounding them: amid rumored raids and ICE presence around Burlington and Camden Counties, Haddon Township fixture Jersey Kebab had its premises raided and its proprietors taken away, one of them to remain in custody for two weeks.

Just as the family behind Jersey Kebab was eventually freed from custody, protestors were hopeful that their actions could have some effect on the attitudes of South Jersey residents towards immigrants. Chris mused on the question of the future of the immigration debate:

“It’s never too late until they’ve cancelled elections. When elections get cancelled and stop happening, it’ll be too late. Until then, support us. Students in particular, do you want to grow up under authoritarian rule where you don’t have free choice or free votes? I think it’s more important to younger people than to me. I’ve got a short amount of time to survive this. Students, you have the rest of your lives. You have to make this happen for you.”

The protestors also said that they would be returning to their space outside the McGuire Gate on a regular basis, weekly or monthly depending on their availability.