Trump’s New Announcement: Decision to Convert Guantanamo Bay into a Detention Center for Undocumented Immigrants
By: Raja Zahid Akhtar Khanzada
Dallas: President Donald Trump made an important announcement on Wednesday, signing an executive order to expand Guantanamo Bay into a detention center for undocumented immigrants. According to the President, the aim of this move is to keep individuals he considers a threat to the country in a secure location outside the United States. This announcement came just before President Trump signed the “Laken Riley Act,” which extends the mandatory detention of foreign nationals accused of crimes such as theft, robbery, or shoplifting. The law is named after 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley, who was allegedly murdered by an undocumented Venezuelan immigrant.
In his speech, President Trump claimed that Guantanamo Bay has 30,000 bed spaces, about which “most people are unaware.”
He further added, “We have 30,000 beds in Guantanamo to detain those dangerous criminal illegal immigrants who pose a threat to the American people. Some of them are so dangerous that we don’t trust their home countries to handle them, so we will send them to Guantanamo.”
It remains unclear how much capacity Guantanamo Bay actually has and how President Trump arrived at the number 30,000. He had previously hinted at detaining or imprisoning immigrants with criminal backgrounds outside the U.S., but the practical aspects and legal complexities of this plan are still unclear.
Guantanamo Bay already has a “Migrant Operations Center,” where U.S. immigration authorities have been screening refugees who are detained at sea for years. This center is separate from the controversial detention center established after 9/11, where 15 terrorism suspects are still held.
Legal complications and international reactions regarding the detention of immigrants at Guantanamo Bay are also significant. Currently, there is a backlog of 3.7 million cases in U.S. immigration courts, meaning detained individuals could wait months or even years for their cases to be decided.
In this context, Guantanamo Bay, located in Cuba but under U.S. control, has faced strong reactions from the Cuban government regarding this controversial decision. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel referred to the move as “barbaric,” saying on social media, “As a savage act, the new U.S. government announces that it will detain thousands of forcibly deported immigrants at the Guantanamo Naval Base, which is illegally established in our territory, and keep them there with the notorious prisons known for violence and illegal detention.”
This is not the first time Guantanamo Bay has been used as a detention center for immigrants. In the early 1990s, thousands of Haitian citizens, including those infected with HIV, were detained there when they were not allowed entry into the U.S.
If President Trump’s plan comes to fruition, it could mark a significant and controversial shift in U.S. immigration policy, potentially drawing severe criticism from human rights organizations and the international community.
This announcement is a continuation of his hardline immigration policies, aimed at preventing illegal immigrants from entering or staying in the U.S. However, questions remain about the legal, human rights, and diplomatic impacts of this decision. It remains to be seen whether the plan will be implemented and, if so, what the effects on the U.S. and international community will be. However, following this announcement, there is growing fear and uncertainty among the immigrant community residing in the U.S., and many are feeling disheartened about their future in America.
Photo credit by HRW
