The first flights of the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump transporting detained migrants to Guantanamo Bay will depart this Tuesday, after the president ordered a large-scale effort to prepare for the transfer of prisoners to the U.S. naval base in Cuba.
"Today, the first flights from the United States to Guantanamo Bay with illegal migrants are taking place," said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt in an interview on Fox Business. Last month, President Donald Trump issued an executive order calling for the maximum expansion of a migrant detention center in Guantanamo, stating that it could hold up to 30,000 people.
Despite being on Cuban soil, the U.S. government maintains control of the base and its administration. In 2009, President Barack Obama signed an executive order to close the Guantanamo detention center, but Republican congress members voted against the initiative. According to the Trump administration, migrants considered "dangerous criminals" and "hard to deport" will be sent to the Guantanamo prison.
The Trump administration has not stated how many migrants considered illegal are on the first flights. Although the United States has previously housed a small number of migrants in Guantanamo, primarily those intercepted at sea, it has not been used in years for large-scale detentions.
"We have approved the transfer of migrants accused of crimes to this prison," Leavitt assured. The transfers take place a day after Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced an agreement with El Salvador to deport foreign criminals to that country, and possibly some U.S. citizens.
Since taking office, Trump has issued a series of executive orders and ordered raids against migrants who are in the U.S. illegally, leading to hundreds of detentions by federal agents. Many of those detained have criminal records, but the administration has not released a full tally.
The possibility of using the Guantanamo base to jail migrants has long been criticized by migrant rights advocacy groups, which have warned that such a measure would circumvent existing legal protections for many people in situations of mobility.
Guantanamo prison is internationally known as a detention center for terrorism suspects since the early 2000s, established by then-President George W. Bush after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers in New York. It has been a symbol of allegations of torture, indefinite detention without trial, and inhumane conditions in which inmates have remained.
