Trump Orders Preparation of Guantanamo Bay Facility for 30,000 Migrants
Washington D.C. – U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday his directive for the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security to prepare a migrant detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, capable of holding up to 30,000 migrants.
The U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay already houses a migrant facility, separate from the high-security prison for terrorism suspects. This facility has been used intermittently over the decades to detain Haitians and Cubans intercepted at sea.
\"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 stated during a briefing at the White House.
He emphasized that the facility would be used to \"detain the worst criminal illegal aliens threatening the American people. Some of them are so bad we don't even trust the countries to hold them because we don't want them coming back, so we're going to send them out to Guantanamo. This will double our capacity immediately, right? And, tough.\"
Following the announcement, Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, indicated that the administration plans to expand the existing facility, with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency overseeing its operations.
Later in the day, Trump signed a memorandum calling for \"additional detention space\" at the expanded facility, though it did not specify the number of migrants.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, when questioned about the funding required for the expansion, stated that the administration is collaborating with Congress to secure the necessary appropriations.
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
