(Sgt. Joshua Syberg/National Guard)
After a report that federal officials may consider using Camp Atterbury as an immigration detention center, Indiana Congressman André Carson is raising a red flag.
“We do know that there are serious ethical and legal concerns with the Trump administration as it relates to mass deportation,” he said.
He said he first found out about the idea from the news and is worried about the issue’s potential to be used as a political tool.
“My deeper concern is that because this issue is so controversial, we could see people use this as a political tool to make a very dangerous political statement,” he said. “And people could get hurt in the process.”
In an open letter to US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem on Wednesday, Carson asked several questions, “to better understand the Department of Homeland Security's intentions and to ensure transparency and accountability.”
He wants Noem’s department to confirm whether there are plans to use the Indiana’s National Guard Training base to hold detainees. And if that is the plan, to provide a timeline, explain legal and ethical frameworks for treatment of detainees, oversights in place at Atterbury, and the effect it will have on the base’s military training and operations.
Carson said the ethical and legal concerns related to the Trump administration’s efforts of mass deportation include arrest and deportation without due process.
The Migration Policy Institute reports that “ICE arrest rates have approximately doubled since FY 2024, increasing from 310 to about 650 per day as of mid-March.”
Detention Centers have reached capacity. Congress allocated funds for 41,500 detention beds this year, and DHS data from May 18 counted 48,870 people in detention.
A memo from the DHS earlier this year relayed plans to use Fort Bliss in Texas for detention and removal of people without documentation.
The Department of Homeland Security said it is “exploring all options” to meet detention needs. But the Indiana National Guard has not received orders related to use of Camp Atterbury.
Carson’s letter asks the DHS to respond by June 13.
At that point, depending on what answers he receives, the next step would be talking to President Trump and his team, and working on the committees where he sits, like the Intel Committee.
The Department of Defense oversees US military bases. But Congress does have influence over funding and personnel levels.
“The influence is there,” Carson said. “And members of the delegation have the power of the purse, the power of the budget, the power to influence policies. And these policies are cruel and inhumane.”
He said the President has responded to concerns lawmakers have raised in other areas, like tariff policies.
