Migrant Flight Lands in Guantanamo Bay as Legal Questions Arise Over Trump’s Plans

A flight carrying migrants landed at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on Tuesday. The flight was a military transport, and it carried about 10 migrants who had criminal records, according to a Homeland Security official.

The migrants are being held at a separate part of Guantanamo Bay, away from the current detainees. This is part of a plan from President Donald Trump to prepare the US Naval base at Guantanamo to hold thousands of migrants. While Guantanamo Bay is already used to process migrants caught at sea, it has never been used to hold migrants brought from the United States.

The move has raised many legal questions. Experts are unsure if it is legal to send migrants from the US border to Guantanamo Bay. The US immigration law, the Immigration and Nationality Act, applies to people in the United States, and it is unclear how it would apply to migrants held in Cuba.

Many more questions remain un-answered. It remains unclear how long migrants will be kept at Guantanamo Bay, what rights they will have while detained, or if they can receive legal help or social services. Some in the government who support the idea, as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, say the idea is good for holding migrants, especially those with criminal records, at Guantanamo Bay.

The US Government has already begun to put up tents at Guantanamo Bay to accommodate the migrants. Military personnel are assisting in putting up the facilities. The first tents were set up last week, while more are being put up to accommodate 30,000. The construction will take approximately 30 days.

Previous officials in Homeland Security are worried because they will construct these facilities too quickly without any knowledge of when the migrants might be released or who will remain in the detention center. “These facilities would not be operated by the US government indefinitely holding migrants,” says Kristi Noem, who is the new Secretary of Homeland Security.

The Biden administration also had in the past planned to use Guantanamo Bay as a detention facility for migrants when mass migration occurred, but they were going to use it only temporarily.

The plan under Trump is to expand existing migrant centers, and the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement will be managing the new facility.