FORMER BASE EYED FOR DETAINEE CAMP
Report: U.S. Navy would build a facility for up to 47,000 immigrants at old weapons station Reaction: City officials object to the proposal; Rep. Mark DeSaulnier calls it ‘madness’
In a proposal that could bring the uproar over President Donald Trump’s controversial “zero tolerance” immigration policy to the Bay Area, the Navy is considering converting a shuttered Concord naval base into a detention facility to hold up to 47,000 immigrants apprehended at the southern border, according to a draft memo obtained Friday by Time magazine.
The revelation stunned
residents in the Contra Costa County community and sent local and federal officials into a frenzy as they tried to track down details on the plan to convert the former naval weapons station that has long been eyed as a development to ease the city’s housing crunch.
The memo under consideration by the secretary of the Navy listed the Concord base among sites to construct “temporary and austere” tent cities in California, Alabama and Arizona as the Trump admin-
“Most of the (Concord) base has been closed for 15 years. We know the infrastructure is nonexistent. You don’t do policy this way.”
— Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord
istration scrambles to cope with a crisis to house the wave of people being arrested at the U.S.-Mexico border under its recent crackdown on illegal immigration.
U.S. Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, who learned of the memo in the Time report Friday, said he strongly opposes the plan, calling it “madness.”
“It’s what you get when you have an administration that doesn’t believe in planning or thoughtfulness,” he told this news organization. “Most of the base has been closed for 15 years. We know the infrastructure is nonexistent.”
“You don’t do policy this way,” he added. “This is unprecedented.”
The proposal comes just days after Trump reversed a controversial policy that separated more than 2,000 children from their parents, many of whom are asking for political asylum in the U.S. to flee violence in Central America. But federal immigration officials are continuing to show “zero tolerance” at the border and instead say they will keep families together in detention until their cases can be heard in immigration court.
Capt. Gregory Hicks, the Navy’s chief spokesman, would not comment on the planning memo to build tent cities, saying Friday, “It would be inappropriate to discuss internal deliberative planning documents.”
In a statement Friday, Defense Department spokesman Johnny Michael said it is “conducting prudent planning and looking at all available regions should the (Department of Homeland Security) ask for assistance in housing adult illegal immigrants. At this time there has been no request from DHS.”
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment.
Concord Mayor Edi Birsan said Friday he was caught off guard when he learned of the report and spent the afternoon seeking facts from the region’s elected officials in Washington, D.C.
“This is so bizarre and a topic that is always in such flux. At first I thought it was fake news,” Birsan said.
City spokeswoman Jennifer Ortega said the city does not have jurisdiction over the federally owned property but said city officials were “very concerned” about the Navy’s possible plans.
The federal government has been in talks with the city for 12 years to transfer the land on Concord’s east side for plans to build 12,200 housing units and 6.1 million square feet of commercial space on about 2,300 acres of the former weapons station property. The East Bay Regional Park District also is slated to receive 2,600 acres for the future Concord Hills Regional Park.
Birsan said he didn’t want to speculate on what a temporary tent city could mean for the city’s transfer plans because the detention facility proposal could “change in four different tweets from now.”
Birsan said “as far as we know,” the base is still federal property. However, he wondered if the Navy proposal may have actually meant the active military facility next door — Military Ocean Terminal Concord.
Regardless, city officials did not welcome the Trump administration’s proposal.
“Last September, the city of Concord passed a resolution affirming (its) commitment to being a welcoming, inclusive, tolerant and supportive community for all,” Ortega said. “We do not feel that a detention center within city limits represents those values.”
The city is working with DeSaulnier and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to gather more information.
The memo suggested the military will be playing a larger role in the Trump administration’s effort to continue its hard line at the U.S.-Mexico border, as talks over immigration reform stall on Capitol Hill. Trump turned up the rhetoric Friday, capping a tumultuous week on the issue as he met with families of crime victims of illegal immigrants, inviting them to tell their stories of being “permanently separated from their loved ones.”
The Defense Department is also studying housing illegal immigrants in tent cities at airfields in Alabama and at Camp Pendleton in Southern California, according to the memo.
As of Friday, there was no evidence that the Department of Homeland Security has sent any children separated from their parents to any Bay Area facilities, though at least one shelter in the Contra Costa County city of Pleasant Hill houses unaccompanied minors.
Members of the Contra Costa County Immigrant Rights Alliance were “very outraged” by news of Friday’s proposal.
“But we aren’t surprised. This is consistent with the track record of the Trump administration’s racist, anti-immigrant agenda,” said Van Nguyen, spokesperson for the alliance. “This is inconsistent with our values of compassion and equality here in California. We need to look at the humanity of all Californians, including immigrants.”