Trump Plans to Send Deported Migrants to Guantanamo Bay

Former President Donald Trump has proposed sending deported migrants to Guantanamo Bay as part of his immigration policy. Explore the controversial plan and its potential implications.

Former President Donald Trump has revealed plans to enlarge detention facilities at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. This expansion aims to accommodate thousands of deported immigrants as part of his heightened efforts to expel illegal aliens from US soil.

The initiative was unveiled on Wednesday as part of the signing ceremony for the bipartisan Laken Riley Act. This act requires that undocumented individuals accused of theft and violent crimes be detained, with potential deportation, even prior to conviction. Trump defended utilizing Guantanamo Bay by stating that some people are “so bad, we don’t even trust their home countries to detain them because we don’t want them returning.”

“We’re going to send them to Guantanamo,” Trump mentioned, describing the facility as “a tough place to escape.”

Guantanamo Bay, primarily recognized for detaining terrorism suspects, also contains a distinct migrant processing center. Trump stated his intention to issue an executive order instructing the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security to expand and ready the facilities for incoming individuals.

“Many people are unaware that we have 30,000 beds in Guantanamo designated for detaining the most dangerous criminal illegal aliens who pose a threat to Americans,” Trump remarked. He further stated that this measure would “bring us nearer to eliminating the issue of migrant crime within our communities permanently.”

Since returning to office, President Trump has issued several executive orders to revamp the US immigration system. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have been conducting nationwide raids, detaining hundreds each day. Targeted cities such as Boston, New York, Newark, and San Francisco are seeing increased enforcement efforts aimed at apprehending immigrants who committed crimes after entering the country illegally according to ICE reports.

The Trump administration has intensified deportation efforts by utilizing military planes for removal flights and warning of tariffs and other consequences for countries that decline to accept deportees.

Guantanamo Bay has operated as a US naval base since 1903. In 2002, during President George W. Bush’s administration, it was converted into a detention center to hold suspected terrorists after the September 11 attacks. The facility has faced widespread criticism for alleged torture and holding individuals indefinitely without charges or trials. As of January 2025, there are still 15 detainees at the site, many of whom have been detained for over twenty years without formal charges brought against them.

The Cuban government has persistently criticized the US military base at Guantanamo Bay, describing it as an infringement on Cuba’s sovereignty and expressing worries about human rights violations at the detention center. On his first day in office, Trump reclassified Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism, overturning an executive order issued by former President Joe Biden merely a week earlier.