Trump orders expansion of migrant detention facility at Guantanamo Bay

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Creator: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI | Credit: AFP via Getty Images

President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that he has directed the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security to prepare a migrant detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to hold up to 30,000 individuals.

The U.S. naval base in Cuba has long housed a separate migrant facility, distinct from the high-security prison for terrorism suspects, which has previously detained Haitian and Cuban migrants intercepted at sea.

Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, later confirmed that the existing facility would be expanded and operated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

“Today, I’m also signing an executive order to instruct the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security to begin preparing the 30,000-person migrant facility at Guantanamo Bay,” Trump declared at the White House.

He specified that it would be used to detain the “worst criminal illegal aliens” and prevent their return to the U.S. if their home countries refused to take them back. Shortly after, Trump signed a memorandum ordering “additional detention space” but omitted the specific capacity figure.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stated that funding details were being coordinated with Congress. The detention site for migrants is separate from the infamous Guantanamo prison, which was established in 2002 under President George W. Bush to hold foreign terrorism suspects.

While reacting to the move, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel denounced Trump’s plan as “an act of brutality,” while refugee advocacy groups have called for the migrant facility’s closure, citing reports of unsanitary conditions, inadequate privacy, and a lack of education services for detained children.

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