Financially.site – In a controversial move, President Donald Trump has announced plans to construct a new migrant detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, with the capacity to hold up to 30,000 individuals.
This facility, distinct from the existing high-security military prison, is intended to house what Trump describes as “the worst criminal illegal aliens threatening the American people.”
Guantanamo Bay has a long history of being utilized for the detention of immigrants, a practice that has drawn criticism from various human rights organizations.
The announcement comes amid heightened tensions surrounding immigration policies and enforcement.
On Wednesday, Tom Homan, Trump’s “border czar,” revealed that the current facility would be expanded and operated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
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He indicated that migrants could be transported directly to the facility after being intercepted at sea by the U.S. Coast Guard, assuring that the “highest” standards of detention would be upheld.
Details regarding the cost and timeline for the facility’s completion remain unclear. The Cuban government swiftly condemned the plan, accusing the United States of engaging in torture and illegal detention on “occupied” territory.
Trump’s announcement coincided with the signing of the Laken Riley Act, legislation mandating that undocumented immigrants arrested for theft or violent crimes be held in jail pending trial.
This bill, named after a Georgia nursing student murdered by a Venezuelan migrant last year, was recently approved by Congress, marking an early legislative victory for the administration.
As fears escalate within migrant communities due to intensified raids by the Trump administration, the Laken Riley Act has been seen as a significant step in the administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
During a signing ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Trump stated that the new executive order for Guantanamo would direct the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security to “begin preparing” the 30,000-bed facility. ”
Some of them are so bad we don’t even trust the countries to hold them, because we don’t want them coming back,” he remarked about the migrants. “So we’re going to send them to Guantanamo… it’s a tough place to get out.”
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According to Trump, this facility will effectively double the U.S. capacity to detain undocumented migrants. The U.S. has been utilizing a facility in Guantanamo known as the Guantanamo Migrant Operations Center (GMOC) for decades, under both Republican and Democratic administrations.
A 2024 report by the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) accused the government of secretly holding migrants in “inhumane” conditions indefinitely after their interception at sea.
The GMOC has primarily housed migrants picked up at sea and was recently the subject of a Freedom of Information request by the American Civil Liberties Union seeking records about the site.
The Biden administration has stated that the GMOC “is not a detention facility and none of the migrants there are detained.” However, the Trump administration insists that the planned expansion is indeed intended as a detention center.
The administration is reportedly preparing to request funding from Congress for the expansion of the existing detention facility as part of a spending bill currently being developed by Republicans.
When pressed by reporters at the White House, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stated that funding would be allocated through “reconciliation and appropriations.”
The military prison at Guantanamo has held detainees captured in U.S. custody following the 9/11 attacks for decades. At its peak, it housed hundreds of prisoners, and several Democratic presidents, including Barack Obama, have pledged to close it. Currently, 15 prisoners remain detained there.
The news of the facility’s expansion has been met with immediate backlash from the Cuban government, which has long regarded Guantanamo Bay as “occupied” territory and has condemned the presence of a U.S. naval base on the island since Fidel Castro’s rise to power in 1959.
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“In an act of brutality, the new government of the U.S. has announced it will incarcerate thousands of forcibly expelled migrants at the naval base in Guantanamo, located in illegally occupied Cuban territory, near known prisons of torture and illegal detention,” wrote Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel on social media platform X.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez added that the announcement reflects “contempt for the human condition and international law.”
