US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that he would direct the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security to commence preparations for a migrant detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, capable of keeping up to 30,000 people. This decision is another step taken in the ongoing crackdown on illegal immigration, expanding the role of the US military in handling migrant detentions.
Guantanamo Bay, situated in Cuba, already has a migrant facility, distinct from the high-security prison that held foreign terrorism suspects. Historically, the facility has been used to detain migrants, including Cubans and Haitians caught at sea. However, Trump’s new initiative would majorly increase the capacity at the base and reinforce the administration’s focus on restricting illegal immigration.
Trump explained while addressing at the White House, ‘’Today, I am also signing an executive order to instruct the Department of Defence and Homeland Security to start preparing the 30,000-person migrant capacity facility at Guantanamo Bay.’’ He stated that the ‘’worst criminal illegal aliens’’ who are a threat to the United States would be detained in it. According to Trump, many of these detainees cannot be safely housed in their home countries, leading to the decision to send them to Guantanamo. He promised that the new facility would double the US’s capacity to manage illegal immigration and would be a tough step for ensuring security.
The Guantanamo Bay detention facility was built in 2002 under President George W Bush to hold foreign military suspects given the September 11 attacks. As per the latest report by Reuters, only 15 detainees are residing in the facility at present. The newly planned migrant detention center will be different from the military prison. The approval has also been given for migration detentions at Colorado’s Buckley Space Force Base.
This latest decision is taken as additional steps in the administration’s immigration strategy, including the deployment of more than 1,600 active duty troops on the US-Mexico border.
(With inputs from Reuters)