Trump's Guantanamo expansion: Detention for 30,000 migrants
Donald Trump has signed an order to construct a facility for criminal migrants at the American military base in Guantanamo. The facility is designed to accommodate 30,000 people.
Trump announced that he instructed the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security to build a facility for migrants, accommodating 30,000 people.
"Most people don’t even know about it. We have 30,000 beds in Guantanamo to detain the worst criminal illegal aliens threatening the American people. This will double our capacity immediately," Trump stated. "Some of them are so bad, we don’t even trust other countries to hold them, and we don’t want them coming back, so we’re going to send them out to Guantánamo," Trump added.
The specifics of the order signed on Wednesday have not yet been disclosed. It remains unclear who will be sent there, what their status will be, or how they can leave the facility.
The gates of Guantanamo
As a reminder, Guantanamo hosts a prison administered by the United States, located on the grounds of the United States Naval Base. This facility, infamous for its reputation, has been used for years to detain individuals suspected of any connection to Islamic terrorism.
Initially, it was a location for detaining jihadists and suspected terrorists from countries like Afghanistan and Iraq, who were perceived as potential threats. The decision was justified by the so-called war on terror launched following the September 11 attacks. Those suspected of being members of Al-Qaeda or Taliban fighters were held there.
Based on a military order from President George W. Bush regarding the "detention, treatment, and trial" of non-U.S. citizens in the war on terror, individuals could be detained there indefinitely without trial or charges. They faced torture and were held in appalling conditions. Most of them, as later determined, had no connections to terrorism or hostile intentions towards the USA.
