Trump Orders Expansion of Migrant Detention Facility at Guantanamo Bay
President Donald Trump has announced plans to build a large-scale migrant detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, capable of holding up to 30,000 individuals. The facility, which will be separate from the existing high-security military prison, is intended to house what Trump called “the worst criminal illegal aliens threatening the American people.”
Key Details of the Plan
The facility will be managed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and expanded from the existing Guantanamo Migrant Operations Center (GMOC).
Migrants intercepted at sea by the U.S. Coast Guard could be directly transported to the site.
Trump claims the facility will double the U.S. capacity to detain undocumented migrants and ensure that dangerous individuals do not return to American communities.
The funding for this project will be included in a Republican-led spending bill currently being drafted in Congress.
Trump’s Justification
Speaking at a signing ceremony for the Laken Riley Act, a new law requiring undocumented immigrants arrested for violent crimes to remain in jail until trial, Trump defended his decision:
“Some of them are so bad we don’t even trust their home countries to hold them because we don’t want them coming back. So we’re going to send them to Guantanamo—it’s a tough place to get out of.”
Backlash and International Response
Human rights groups have long criticized the use of Guantanamo Bay for migrant detention, arguing that conditions there are inhumane and violate international law. Cuba’s government swiftly condemned the decision, with President Miguel Díaz-Canel calling it “an act of brutality.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez accused the U.S. of “contempt for the human condition and international law”, denouncing the move as another violation of Cuban sovereignty.
The Bigger Picture
This decision comes at a time when the Trump administration is cracking down on illegal immigration through aggressive new policies. It remains unclear how much the facility will cost, how long it will take to build, or whether it will face legal challenges.
