The U.S. government has begun transferring undocumented immigrants to the Guantánamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba, a measure that has sparked controversy and concern among human rights organizations.
According to The Miami Herald, the first flights transporting migrants to the facility took place on Tuesday, marking a significant shift in U.S. detention and deportation policies.
The White House Confirms Migrant Transfers
The White House confirmed that deportation flights to Guantánamo are now underway. “I can confirm that the first U.S. flights to Guantánamo Bay with illegal migrants are in progress,” said Karoline Leavitt, White House spokesperson, in an interview with Fox Business Network, as reported by The Miami Herald. She also emphasized, “Trump is not joking, and he will no longer allow America to be a dumping ground for the world’s illegal criminals.”
For the first flight, only 10 immigrants were transported to the Guantánamo naval base, CNN reported, citing The Miami Herald. All deportees had a criminal record, according to CNN.
Transporting these 10 migrants cost the U.S. government $28,500 per hour using a C-17 military aircraft, The Wall Street Journal revealed. The report pointed out that standard charter flights usually used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would cost only a fraction of that exorbitant amount.
As part of Trump’s immigration crackdown, the U.S. president signed a memorandum last week ordering the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Defense (DoD) to increase Guantánamo’s detention capacity, which is now expected to hold up to 30,000 migrants.
Tom Homan, the White House Border Czar, described this decision as a continuation of existing policies. “We are simply expanding existing migrant detention centers,” he told CNN, adding that the facility would be managed by “our Miami migrant center,” according to The Miami Herald.
Harsh Criticism from Human Rights Organizations
The decision to detain migrants at Guantánamo has drawn sharp criticism from human rights advocates. According to The Miami Herald, the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) warned that this expansion could lead to serious human rights violations. “These flights pave the way for blatant human rights violations, indefinite detentions, and massive family separations,” said Hannah Flamm, Interim Policy Director at IRAP (The Miami Herald).
A report published by IRAP last fall documented deplorable conditions at the facility, including allegations of inadequate healthcare and prison-like treatment of detainees. More than 100 organizations have urged the U.S. government to stop detaining asylum seekers at Guantánamo, notes The Miami Herald.
The Cuban government has strongly condemned this measure, arguing that it exacerbates tensions between the two countries. In an official statement, Cuban authorities denounced this policy as “a display of brutality… and hostility toward the migrants’ home countries,” reports The Miami Herald.
Historically, Guantánamo has housed tens of thousands of Cuban and Haitian migrants during migration waves in the 1990s. However, The Miami Herald emphasized that sending detainees directly from the U.S. to the detention center is an unprecedented and highly controversial development.
With civil rights groups, international organizations, and foreign governments closely monitoring the situation, the future role of Guantánamo in U.S. immigration enforcement remains uncertain.