07/19/2025
-D
The following statement was released by the Burlington County Commissioners in response to reports of plans to use Joint Base McGuire-Dix Lakehurst as an immigration detention site:
“Burlington County strives to be a destination for all people; a place where residents of all backgrounds feel welcome and free to live out the American dream. We believe those who commit crimes should be lawfully punished, and that people who are unlawfully present in our country should be lawfully returned to their home country. In short, we believe in the rule of law and that it needs to be evenly applied to everyone, including those responsible for enforcing it.
With that in mind, our Board has become increasingly concerned about overaggressive enforcement actions by officers and agents from Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and other federal agencies. Cases of law-abiding U.S. citizens, students with legal visas, and even military veterans being unjustly detained have become far too frequent. Just this week the nation learned about George Retes, an Army veteran who was detained for three days despite being a U.S. citizen.
This kind of overzealous, and in some cases – unlawful -- actions, threaten our citizens’ rights, safety and the culture of community we hold dear. They also threaten our nation’s basic values. Instead of making our country stronger, they cause fear and division, and that has no place in our federal military installations or in Burlington County.”
