The Department of Homeland Security is preparing to use military bases in New Jersey and Indiana to detain immigrants who entered the country illegally, as well as to increase the number of immigrants detained at the U.S. Naval Base on Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to correspondence between DHS and the Pentagon obtained by NPR.

According to the letter, dated July 15, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth approved the moves, which were requested by DHS the previous month.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is part of DHS, had sought immediate access to Camp Atterbury, a National Guard base in Indiana and Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, a base in New Jersey, from the Defense Department.

ICE is also seeking to detain more immigrants without legal status atGuantanamo Bay prior to their final removal from the United States.

“DoD approves this support through September 30, 2025, subject to ICE maintaining a 24/7 oversight presence at each site to maintain custody and provide overall supervision of each site,” stated the letter from Executive Secretary Anthony Fuscellaro to DHS Acting Executive Secretary Andrew Whitaker. ICE staff and contractors will be responsible for all care and handling of the migrants, including meals, medical screening, transportation and medical services, according to the correspondence obtained by NPR.

Neither DHS nor the Defense Department have yet responded to questions about the letter.

On his first day in office, President Trump declared a national emergency at the southern border, enabling DHS to gain access to DoD’s military resources. During congressional testimony, Todd Lyons, ICE’s acting director, told lawmakers he did not expect DHS to repay the Pentagon for their costs.

The approval letter notes that DHS will pay DoD for any costs associated with migrant detention at McGuire Field, the Air Force base in New Jersey.

The request for the use of additional military bases, and expansion at Guantanamo, comes as the Trump administration has pushed to arrest and detain more people in the country without legal status. DHS has nearly 57,000 people in immigration detention, though it only has about 41,000 beds. The department has sought out contracts with the Federal Bureau of Prisons, local jurisdictions, and the use of military bases to detain migrants.

By June, Guantanamo was holding about 500 migrants, though until now the base could only accommodate about 200.

In the letter to lawmakers obtained by NPR, Hegseth said that the use of the bases in Indiana and New Jersey for immigration detention “will not negatively affect military training, operations, readiness, or other military requirements, including National Guard and Reserve readiness.”

Camp Atterbury in Indiana will assist with removal operations out of the Chicago area; McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey will support Newark. Guantanamo Bay is designated to help with detentions and removals from Miami.

The plan laid out by DHS calls for space for up to 1,000 people at the Indiana and New Jersey bases and to approximately double the capacity at Guantanamo to 400 people.

DoD rejected a request from DHS for air transportation assistance until it got more details.

In May, DHS asked for 20,000 National Guard members to assist ICE in its operations ranging from “night raids” and “rural interdictions” to guard duty at detention facilities. The Pentagon has already approved some 700 Guard members to assist in Florida, Louisiana and Texas.

A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, told NPR that hundreds more Guard troops are expected to be called up to assist operations in Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, South Carolina, Utah and Virginia.

The Democratic congressional delegation in a statement condemned the terms of the use of the New Jersey base.

“This is an inappropriate use of our national defense system and military resources,” they said in the statement. “Using our country’s military to detain and hold undocumented immigrants jeopardizes military preparedness and paves the way for ICE immigration raids in every New Jersey community. We have the greatest military in the world and using it as a domestic political tool is unacceptable and shameful.”

In addition to using the military, the Trump administration is expected to be able to scale up its detention capacity due to an influx of funding from Congress. The recent tax and spending bill set aside $45 billion for immigration detention centers, and $30 billion for more ICE personnel, transportation costs and to maintain existing ICE facilities.

California and a coalition of other liberal-led states sued the Trump administration Monday over new rules barring undocumented immigrants from accessing more than a dozen federally funded “public benefit” programs, arguing the restrictions target working mothers and their children in violation of federal law.

President Trump and others in his administration have defended the restrictions as necessary to protect services for American citizens — including veterans — and reduce incentives for illegal immigration into the country.

One of the programs facing new restrictions is Head Start, which provided some 800,000 low-income infants, toddlers and preschoolers with child care, nutrition and health assistance.

Others include short-term shelters for homeless people, survivors of domestic violence and at-risk youth; emergency shelters for people during extreme weather; soup kitchens, community food banks and food support services for the elderly, such as Meals on Wheels; healthcare services for those with mental illness and substance abuse issues; and other adult education programs.

California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta’s office said states have been allowed to extend such programs to undocumented immigrant families at least since 1997, and the Trump administration’s “abrupt reversal of nearly three decades of precedent” amounted to a “cruel” and costly attack on some of the nation’s most vulnerable residents.

“This latest salvo in the President’s inhumane anti-immigration campaign primarily goes after working moms and their young children,” Bonta said. “We’re not talking about waste, fraud, and abuse, we’re talking about programs that deliver essential childcare, healthcare, nutrition, and education assistance, programs that have for decades been open to all.”

The lawsuit — which California filed along with 19 other states and the District of Columbia — contends the new restrictions were not only initiated in an “arbitrary and capricious” manner and without proper notice to the states, but will end up costing the states hundreds of millions of dollars annually.

Bonta’s office said “requiring programs to expend resources to implement systems and train staff to verify citizenship or immigration status will impose a time and resource burden on programs already struggling to operate on narrow financial margins.”

It also said that the impact of the changes in California, which has a huge immigrant population compared to other states, would be “devastating — and immediate.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.

The states’ claims run counter to arguments from Trump, his administration and other anti-immigration advocates that extending benefits to undocumented immigrants encourages illegal immigration into the country, costs American taxpayers money and makes it harder for U.S. citizens to receive services.

About a month after taking office, Trump issued an executive order titled “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Open Borders,” in which he said his administration would “uphold the rule of law, defend against the waste of hard-earned taxpayer resources, and protect benefits for American citizens in need, including individuals with disabilities and veterans.”

The order required the heads of federal agencies to conduct sweeping reviews of their benefits programs and move to restrict access for undocumented immigrants, in part to “prevent taxpayer resources from acting as a magnet and fueling illegal immigration to the United States.”

Trump cited the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 as providing clear restrictions against noncitizens participating in federally funded benefits programs, and accused past administrations of undermining “the principles and limitations” of that law.

Past administrations have provided exemptions to the law, namely by allowing immigrants to access certain “life or safety” programs — including those now being targeted for new restrictions.

In response to Trump’s order, various federal agencies — including Health and Human Services, Labor, Education and Agriculture — issued notices earlier this month announcing their reinterpretation of the 1996 law as excluding “noncitizens” from more programs, including previously exempted ones.

“For too long, the government has diverted hardworking Americans’ tax dollars to incentivize illegal immigration,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “Today’s action changes that — it restores integrity to federal social programs, enforces the rule of law, and protects vital resources for the American people.”

“Under President Trump’s leadership, hardworking American taxpayers will no longer foot the bill for illegal aliens to participate in our career, technical, or adult education programs or activities,” said Education Secretary Linda McMahon.

“By ensuring these programs serve their intended purpose, we’re protecting good-paying jobs for American workers and reaffirming this Administration’s commitment to securing our borders and ending illegal immigration,” said Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer.

The Department of Agriculture also said it would apply new restrictions on benefits for undocumented immigrants, including under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. However, the states’ lawsuit does not challenge the Department of Agriculture, noting that “many USDA programs are subject to an independent statutory requirement to provide certain benefits programs to everyone regardless of citizenship,” which the department’s notice said would continue to apply.

Joining Bonta in filing the lawsuit were the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin, as well as the District of Columbia.