A woman sits with her homemade sign saying “Melt ICE” during the Independence Day protest in downtown Franklin. Daily Journal file photo
CAMP ATTERBURY — A rally to protest the potential use of Camp Atterbury for illegal immigrant detention is planned for Aug. 24 at the Johnson County Park.
Ninth District Congressional candidate Brad Meyer, a Democrat from the Bloomington area, will lead a rally to protest Camp Atterbury’s possible use as a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, detention facility. The rally will demonstrate “the community’s opposition to a policy Meyer calls ‘inhumane and contrary to Indiana values,’” according to a news release on the rally.
The event will begin at 2 p.m. Aug. 24 at the Johnson County Park Welcome Shelter, 6484 Schoolhouse Road, Nineveh.
No portion of Camp Atterbury or Johnson County is in the Ninth District; however, Meyer is planning the event here because using Camp Atterbury in this way is in “stark contrast” to the facility’s history and is “unworthy of our state’s values.” The event is expected to bring together local residents, community leaders and advocates for immigration reform, the release says.
The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office is aware of the protest and prepared to provide patrols in the area and respond if anything occurs. Sheriff Duane Burgess said Meyer reached out to him regarding security and has also reached out to the county parks department to reserve the shelter.
Meyer’s release calls for a peaceful protest. Burgess hopes to see the same.
He informed Meyer that the sheriff’s office will have no issues with the protest as long as it remains peaceful, protesters stay out of the street and no state or county property is damaged, Burgess said.
The county park is next to Camp Atterbury and is situated on land that was previously part of the Indiana National Guard base. The base may house low-level offenders as part of an illegal immigrant detainment plan, but the federal government has not given any official word on when and if it will actually occur.
Prince’s Lakes officials confirmed recently that they were invited to Camp Atterbury to meet with Indiana Army National Guard leaders to discuss recent documents from the U.S. Secretary of Defense regarding the use of Camp Atterbury as a temporary site to house illegal immigrants. A July 15 letter revealed that Camp Atterbury, along with Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey, has been preliminarily certified as sites that could house immigrant detainees. This housing would be on a temporary basis, the letter to Congress members representing the areas of the bases said.
“While there are many unanswered questions for both the Guard and the community, we were assured that the [Indiana National Guard] was committed to keeping us informed as plans develop and values us as a neighbor and partner,” said Lindsey Henson, president of the Prince’s Lakes Town Council, in a post on the town’s Facebook page.
In the post, Henson said Camp Atterbury has been formally selected as a potential location for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, to temporarily hold individuals with immigration-related violations. The individuals who could potentially be housed there would be low-level offenders.
However, as of now, the site has not been activated for use by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Henson said. National Guard officials are expected to share more information with the town council at their Aug. 18 meeting.
Camp Atterbury is not the only place in Indiana that is being tapped as an ICE detention center.
About 1,000 open beds at Miami Correctional Facility in Bunker Hill may also house illegal immigrants, according to the Indiana Department of Correction. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has dubbed the facility “Speedway Slammer.” Several Indiana counties have also entered enforcement agreements with ICE, according to the Indiana Capital Chronicle.
