Trump Administration Prepares to Relocate Thousands of Migrants to Guantanamo Bay
(MENAFN) The Trump administration is preparing to relocate as many as 9,000 undocumented migrants to the US detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, with transfers potentially beginning this week, media outlets revealed Tuesday.
Officials informed these outlets that migrants under consideration include nationals from Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Haiti, Ireland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Türkiye, and Ukraine.
Since February, roughly 500 migrants have been held at Guantanamo, but insiders disclosed that authorities are readying the facility to conduct medical evaluations for up to 9,000 individuals to confirm their eligibility for transfer.
Guantanamo Bay, infamous for its role post-September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, originally housed suspected terrorists captured by the US military.
In January, President Donald Trump declared his intention to repurpose the detention center to house undocumented migrants temporarily. The transfers could commence as soon as Wednesday, with plans to hold detainees there briefly before deporting them back to their home countries.
This initiative aligns with the administration's aggressive crackdown on illegal immigration, which includes ramped-up Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations aimed at increasing arrests and deportations.
"Under President Trump's leadership, we are looking to set a goal of a minimum of 3,000 arrests for ICE every day," White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller told a news agency last month, adding the administration intended to boost these numbers further.
The official justification for the transfers is to alleviate overcrowding at detention facilities within the continental United States. Documents obtained by the media outlets also reveal that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) might not notify the migrants’ countries of origin prior to their relocation to Guantanamo Bay.
Most of the detainees come from US-allied European nations, sparking concern among some American diplomats. Additionally, certain State Department officials specializing in European affairs are reportedly urging DHS to reconsider the plan.
"The message is to shock and horrify people, to upset people," one State Department official told a media outlet. "But we’re allies."
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a lawsuit seeking to block the government's plan to transfer detainees to Guantanamo; the case remains unresolved.
"Defendants are using the threat of detention at Guantanamo to frighten immigrants, deter future migration, induce self-deportation, and coerce people in detention to give up claims against removal and accept deportation elsewhere," ACLU attorneys stated.
"The government has identified no legitimate purpose that is served by holding immigrant detainees at Guantanamo, rather than at detention facilities inside the United States."
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