Trump plans to establish a facility at Guantanamo to accommodate 30,000 migrants

U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday his intention to direct the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security to establish a migrant detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, capable of accommodating up to 30,000 migrants.

The naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, already contains a migrant facility that has been intermittently utilized for decades, distinct from the high-security prison for foreign terrorism suspects. This facility has previously housed Haitians and Cubans intercepted at sea.

Tom Homan, the administration’s border enforcement chief, later confirmed that the existing facility would be expanded and operated by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. “Today, I am also signing an executive order to direct the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security to start preparations for the 30,000-person migrant facility at Guantanamo Bay,” Trump stated at the White House. He emphasized that the facility would be designated for “the most dangerous criminal illegal aliens posing a threat to the American public. Some of these individuals are so dangerous that we cannot trust their home countries to detain them, so we will send them to Guantanamo. This will immediately double our capacity, correct? And it will be strict.”

Shortly thereafter, Trump signed a memorandum that did not specify a number of migrants but called for “additional detention space” at the expanded facility. During a press briefing, Homan indicated that the center would be reserved for the “worst of the worst.” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, when asked about the funding required for the facility, stated that the administration was collaborating with Congress on reconciliation and appropriations.

ACT OF BRUTALITY

The Guantanamo Bay detention facility was established in 2002 under the administration of then-President George W. Bush to hold foreign militant suspects in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Currently, there are 15 detainees remaining at the facility.

Both of Trump’s Democratic predecessors, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, aimed to close the Guantanamo prison, managing only to decrease the number of inmates, while Trump has committed to keeping it operational. The prison has faced longstanding criticism from human rights organizations for its practice of indefinite detention and has become emblematic of the early excesses of the U.S. “war on terror,” particularly due to severe interrogation techniques that many argue constitute torture.

It is important to note that the migrant facility operates separately from the detention center located on the base. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel referred to Trump’s initiative as “an act of brutality.”

Advocacy groups for refugees have urged the closure of the Guantanamo migrant facility and called for Congressional investigations into reported abuses. A 2024 report from the International Refugee Assistance Project indicated that detainees reported unsanitary living conditions, families with young children being housed alongside single adults, restricted access to private phone calls, and a lack of educational resources for children.

On Tuesday, the U.S. military announced that it would permit Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain migrants at Buckley Space Force Base in Colorado. This decision follows U.S. military deportation flights for migrants and the deployment of over 1,600 active-duty troops to the U.S.-Mexico border in response to Trump’s recent emergency immigration declaration.