Don’t Turn Florida’s Military Bases Into Deportation Camps

The latest scheme to turn U.S. military bases—like Homestead Air Reserve Base near my home in Florida—into de facto deportation camps is a dangerous, authoritarian overreach that spits in the face of American values.

This isn’t about border security. It’s about cruelty. It’s about fearmongering. And it’s about using military force against vulnerable people to score political points.

The military exists to protect this country—not to serve as an arm of an extremist anti-immigrant agenda. Using bases like Homestead to detain immigrants, many of whom are fleeing violence and persecution, opens the door to a dangerous precedent. What’s next? Military involvement in domestic law enforcement? Armed troops rounding up families in American cities?

History tells us that when governments use the military to police civilians, democracy suffers. This move isn’t just reckless—it’s authoritarianism in disguise.

Homestead isn’t new to this kind of abuse. Under previous administrations, it became a notorious child detention center, with reports of overcrowding, neglect, and a lack of oversight. And guess what? Private prison companies made a killing off it. Now, they’re licking their chops at the prospect of more government contracts to profit off human suffering.

Military bases aren’t designed to detain civilians, let alone asylum seekers. These facilities lack the legal resources, medical care, and humane conditions required to treat people with dignity. But that’s the whole point—the goal is to make the immigration process so cruel and unbearable that people stop coming. This is a manufactured crisis turned into a political weapon.

This isn’t just a human rights nightmare—it’s also a slap in the face to our military. Service members are already stretched thin with real national security priorities. Now, they’re expected to play prison guards in a political circus? Military leaders have made it clear: this isn’t their job, and it undermines readiness and morale.

Florida’s Homestead Air Reserve Base has a mission: to protect America, not serve as a staging ground for mass deportations. If the government truly cared about security, it wouldn’t be bogging down military resources with partisan gimmicks.

This country deserves immigration policies that reflect our values—not policies rooted in fear, cruelty, and political theater. We need smart reforms that fix our legal immigration system, streamline asylum cases, and ensure humane enforcement where necessary.

We can secure our borders and uphold human rights. That’s not a contradiction—it’s common sense. But militarizing deportations and locking up asylum seekers on military bases? That’s a dystopian nightmare, not a serious policy.

America is better than this. It’s time to act like it.

Will Atkins retired from the Air Force after having reached the rank of colonel and 22 years of service, earning two Bronze Stars during his military career. He knows a thing or two about fighting for good, and his oath of service didn’t come with an expiration date. He is continuing to fight to defend our Constitution as a candidate for the Florida House of Representatives.