Some 27 men have been housed at Crowborough training camp, where the Home Office plans to accommodate more than 500 men as it bids to end the use of asylum hotels.
The move has sparked opposition from neighbours of the camp and the local authority, Wealden District Council, has said it is considering legal action.
On a visit to Crowborough on Thursday, Shabana Mahmood vowed to defend any legal challenge “vigorously”.
She said: “I understand the strength of feeling, but I do also believe that getting out of asylum hotels is absolutely crucial for the country.
“We should never have used asylum hotels to house illegal migrants into this country.
“The level of illegal migration and asylum hotel use is far too high.
“Military sites are part of that solution and so we will be making this move, not just here in Crowborough but in other parts of the country as well.
“What I would say to local people is I do understand where you are coming from but we do need to close asylum hotels, which are also causing community concern.”
Ms Mahmood has been tasked with speeding up efforts to close asylum hotels and has argued that using military sites is a vital part of ending that plan.
Crowborough is one of two military sites the government announced last year that it would use to house asylum seekers, along with Cameron Barracks in Inverness in the Highlands.
Latest Home Office figures show the number of asylum seekers being temporarily housed in hotels increased by 13 per cent to 36,273 at the end of September.
On Thursday, the government said 197 hotels were being used to house asylum seekers as of January 5, down from more than 400 at its peak under the previous government.
The Crowborough accommodation has 24/7 security with CCTV and strict sign-in processes for residents, the Home Office said.
They will also have completed health and police checks before arriving at the base.
On Wednesday after being informed by minister Alex Norris the camp will open, Wealden District Council leader James Partridge said: “Despite our strong objection, the minister hasn’t listened to any of us.
“We’ve immediately contacted our legal team to ask them to review the decision, to see if there’s any way we can bring a legal challenge to it.”
The Liberal Democrat council leader also said while “a lot of people will be angry, frightened and worried about this”, he urged to try and “make the best of it” and come together as the community did previously when Afghan families and Ukrainian refugees arrived.
The Crowborough site was used to accommodate Afghan families evacuated during the withdrawal from Kabul in 2021 while they were resettled elsewhere.
Elsewhere, the government’s response to a parliamentary committee report which said billions of pounds had been “squandered” on asylum accommodation by Home Office mismanagement was published on Thursday.
The Home Affairs Committee warned ministers in October that it must set out a clear strategy of how to reduce the use of asylum hotels and have a chance to end the “current failed, chaotic and expensive” system that has wasted taxpayers’ money.
In correspondence to the committee, the government said “lessons have been learned” from mistakes in the past, and to end its existing hotel contracts through a break clause this year “there needs to be sufficient alternative supply of accommodation in place to ensure service continuity”.
Committee chairwoman Dame Karen Bradley said it is welcome the Home Office has “finally started to get a grip” on asylum accommodation contracts.
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