WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Tuesday despatched the primary flight of detained migrants on navy plane from the USA to the naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as President Donald Trump continues high-profile shows of his immigration crackdown.
Division of Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem posted photographs on social media of males in handcuffs and chains, being escorted by immigration officers wearing tactical navy gear.
“Guantanamo Bay will maintain the worst of the worst,” Noem wrote. “That begins at the moment.”
Trump introduced final week that he would direct the Protection Division to make use of the migrant detention heart on the bottom to detain as much as 30,000 individuals who lack U.S. authorized standing. It will practically double the present mattress house that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has funding for throughout the nation, which is roughly 41,500.
Greater than 150 U.S. Marines and U.S. Military members began arriving on the base over the weekend, the U.S. Southern Command Public Affairs Workplace mentioned in a press launch. Greater than 300 navy personnel are already stationed on the base.
The bottom is thought for holding suspects accused of terrorism within the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, assaults. Advocates have pressed for the bottom to be shut down, citing human rights violations.
White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt additionally confirmed flights had been happening Tuesday throughout a phase on Fox Enterprise.
“The primary flights from the USA to Guantanamo Bay with unlawful migrants are underway,” she mentioned, including that the president is “not messing round.”
Throughout a Sunday interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Noem was requested if girls, youngsters and households can be detained at Guantanamo Bay, however Noem wouldn’t deal with the query.
“You already know, when you take a look at what we’re doing at the moment of concentrating on the worst of the worst, we’ve been very clear on that,” Noem mentioned through the interview. “The precedence of this president is to go after felony aliens which can be making our streets extra harmful.”
Whereas Guantanamo Bay has been used up to now to detain migrants, it’s normally been to intercept refugees fleeing from Cuba and Haiti through the Nineteen Nineties, not used to move individuals from throughout the U.S.
The Division of Homeland Safety didn’t reply to States Newsroom’s request on the place the flights departed from or what number of detained migrants had been on board the C-17 navy jet, and if they’d a felony standing.
Final up to date 4:36 p.m., Feb. 4, 2025
