Congressmen decry turning Fairfield base into ‘mass deportation center’

(KRON) — Two congressmen sent a joint letter to U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth following reports that the Trump administration is considering using Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield as an immigration detention facility and mass deportation center.

U.S. Representatives John Garamendi (D-CA) and Mike Thompson (D-CA) are calling the Travis Air Force Base plan “outrageous.”

“It’s outrageous and inappropriate for the Trump Administration to use Travis Air Force Base as an immigration detention facility,” the congressmen wrote.

Travis Air Force Base is known as the “Gateway to the Pacific” because of its its geographical location and mission for transporting for military personnel and equipment around the world.

Earlier this year, Garamendi’s office sent a letter demanding answers from the Department of Defense regarding the use of C-17s and C-130s from Travis Air Force Base to deport undocumented immigrants.

“Unfortunately, this is not the President’s first attempt to inappropriately utilize Travis Air Force Base, hampering its critical mission. In February, we uncovered that Trump was using Travis’s military aircraft to transport undocumented individuals. Now, the President wants to turn Travis into a mass deportation center. All these instances compromise our national security and are simply absurd,” the congressmen wrote.