The PresidentA decree signed by President Donald Trump on Wednesday begins the construction of a facility to detain thousands of migrants in Guantnamo Bay, Cuba, which he claimed was an attempt to “halt the border invasion.”
“I hereby direct the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security to take all appropriate actions to expand the Migrant Operations Center at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay to full capacity to provide additional detention space for high-priority criminal aliens unlawfully present in the United States,” according to the memo to the Pentagon and DHS.
During a signing ceremony for the immigration detention law known as the Laken Riley Act, Trump gave a sneak peek at the plan, stating that he will “direct the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security to start preparing the 30,000 person migrant facility at Guant namo Bay.”
The majority of people aren’t even aware of it. Guantnamo has 30,000 beds to house the most dangerous illegal aliens who pose a threat to the American people. Because we don’t want them to return, some of them are so terrible that we don’t even trust the nations to hold them,” Trump continued.
“There might be some resources that could be established for the worst of the worst at Guant namo Bay,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stated in a CNN interview on Wednesday, adding that Trump and DHS were evaluating those options.
Following the terrorist events of September 11, 2001, inmates were initially transferred to Guantanamo Bay in 2002 under then-President George W. Bush. Both former President Barack Obama and former President Joe Biden expressed their desire to close the prison center while they were in government. Both failed.
After transferring 11 Yemeni detainees to Oman after they had been housed at the base for more than 20 years, the Defense Department said this month that 15 inmates are still at Guantanamo Bay.
Since the start of his second administration, Trump has taken additional actions to target illegal immigrants in the United States.
Trump proclaimed a national emergency at the border during his first week in office, which would allow the Defense Department to send the National Guard and soldiers there. In addition, he has signed numerous executive orders aimed at deporting millions of illegal immigrants and stopping immigration at the southern border.
Five defense officials said that many Pentagon officials were taken aback by the president’s Guantanamo declaration.
The Guantanamo mission will be a Homeland Security Department assignment, according to one official. Although it’s unclear if the military will be involved, the official stated that the Pentagon does not yet have any directives or instructions from the White House outside of the memo.
Astonished by Trump’s announcement, officials said they were unsure of the number of migrant beds at Guantanamo at the moment and whether this would be a temporary or permanent mission. According to them, there aren’t any immediate plans to modernize or alter the military installations there.
Regarding Guantanamo Bay, one of the officers stated, “We’ve been ramping down this mission.”
The Department of Homeland Security operates a separate Migrant Operations Center there, which might be expanded with military construction assistance.