Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Passages

(1,849 posts)
Wed Jan 29, 2025, 04:10 PM Jan 29

Trump orders preparation of Guantnamo Bay facility to house migrants

by Brett Samuels - 01/29/25 3:01 PM ET

President Trump said he is signing an executive order on Wednesday to prepare a massive facility at Guantánamo Bay to be used to house deported migrants.

The order will direct the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security to prepare a 30,000-person migrant facility at Guantánamo Bay, a facility in Cuba that has been used to house military prisoners, including several involved in the 9/11 attacks.

“We have 30,000 beds in Guantánamo to detain the worst criminal illegal aliens threatening the American people,” Trump said during an event to sign the Laken Riley Act into law, stiffening the nation’s immigration laws.

“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 Guantánamo,” Trump added. “This will double our capacity immediately. And tough, it’s a tough place to get out of.”https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5113897-trump-guantanamo-bay-migrants/


The demagogue delivers to his sick fan base while he organizes crypto deals in the White House to rob them.

8 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Trump orders preparation of Guantnamo Bay facility to house migrants (Original Post) Passages Jan 29 OP
Keeps them out of US legal jurisdiction DBoon Jan 29 #1
When is he signing an EO to build gas chambers? Dave Bowman Jan 29 #2
He may have them tortured in one form or the other. Passages Jan 29 #3
Certainly Stephen Miller will if given the opportunity. Lonestarblue Jan 29 #4
History of Gitmo ultralite001 Jan 29 #5
Thank you. Passages Jan 29 #6
The problem(s) with Trump's new plan for Guantnamo Bay LetMyPeopleVote Jan 31 #7
His fans won't care. Passages Jan 31 #8

DBoon

(23,462 posts)
1. Keeps them out of US legal jurisdiction
Wed Jan 29, 2025, 04:13 PM
Jan 29

and prevents nosy journalists and congresspeople from snooping around

That was the original reason for setting up the camp at Guatanamo - so the government could hold people and not be suject to legal recourse

ultralite001

(1,353 posts)
5. History of Gitmo
Wed Jan 29, 2025, 05:58 PM
Jan 29

US Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

Located on the southeast corner of Cuba, Guantanamo Bay’s strategic location and topographic properties have made it a valued possession of maritime powers since the 15th century. Christopher Columbus landed at the Bay on his second voyage to the Americas, and it was later contested by the empires of England, France, and Spain.

In 1898, the Bay was taken by U.S. forces and their Cuban allies for use as a forward-operating base in their effort to wrest Spanish control of the island. In 1903 the United States leased 45 square miles of land and water at Guantanamo Bay, from the newly independent Cuban government, to be used for fleet sustainment by the growing US Navy.

A 1934 treaty reaffirming the lease granted Cuba and her trading partners free access through the Bay, modified the lease payment from $2,000 in gold coins per year to the 1934 equivalent value of $4,085 U.S. dollars, and added a requirement that termination of the lease requires the consent of both the U.S. and Cuban governments, or the U.S. abandonment of the base property.

Base relations with Cuba remained stable and did not significantly change until the Cuban Revolution in the late 1950s, with United States and Cuban relations steadily declining as Revolutionary leader Fidel Castro aligned with the Soviet Union. The United States severed diplomatic ties with Cuba in 1961, and in 1964 Castro cut off water and supply avenues to the base: since then, Naval Station Guantanamo Bay has been self-sufficient, with its own power and water sources.

During its long history the base’s activities have at times included fleet training, ship repair, refueling and resupply, migrant operations, regional humanitarian relief and disaster assistance, search and rescue support, and detention operations. Today it remains the forward, ready, and irreplaceable U.S. sea power platform in the Caribbean, giving decision makers unique options across the range of military and interagency operations.

Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba is on the front lines for regional security in the Caribbean area. The base is about 400 air miles from Miami, Florida. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay has many missions. The base supports the ability of U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships, along with allied nation ships to operate in the Caribbean area by providing contingency and quality logistical support with superior services and facilities. The base also supports U.S. Federal agencies in U.S. migrant operations to help care for displaced migrants from the surrounding area.

Additionally, we aid the Fleet in support of narco-terrorism operations, which occur in this region.

NAVSTA GTMO is not a joint operations command, however we support joint operations. Joint Task Force Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO) is a joint command and is the organization responsible for and operates the detention center.

As told by:
https://cnrse.cnic.navy.mil/Installations/NS-Guantanamo-Bay/

LetMyPeopleVote

(158,209 posts)
7. The problem(s) with Trump's new plan for Guantnamo Bay
Fri Jan 31, 2025, 08:16 PM
Jan 31

The president has instructed officials to “begin preparing” a 30,000-person “migrant facility” at Guantánamo Bay. The list of concerns is not short.
https://bsky.app/profile/stevebenen.com/post/3lgxqlcvoxs2c

The administration apparently intends to transport tens of thousands of migrants to a military facility on an island — but we're apparently not supposed to see them as "the camps."




At the least, that was the plan. Evidently, Donald Trump has an entirely new vision for Guantánamo Bay’s near future. NBC News reported:

President Donald Trump signed a memo Wednesday that sets in motion preparations for a facility to house thousands of migrants at the U.S. military camp at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, which he said was an effort to ‘halt the border invasion.


He went on to say that this facility would detain “the worst” undocumented immigrants, adding that it would be “a tough place to get out of.”

The Republican has taken an interest in the base before. On the campaign trail in 2016, for example, Trump suggested he’d try to expand Guantánamo’s prison population, rather than try to shrink it. “We’re gonna load it up with some bad dudes, believe me, we’re gonna load it up,” he boasted at the time......

Nevertheless, newly sworn in Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sat down with Fox News — the former television personality’s previous employer — for his first interview since joining the White House Cabinet, and he insisted that Guantánamo Bay “is a perfect place” for migrants.

He also clarified that the mass detention facility would be separate from the high-security prison used to house terrorism suspects.

It was also of interest, however, when Hegseth took a moment to claim, “This is not the camps. ... This is a temporary transit.”

Of course, if the administration intends to transport tens of thousands to a military facility on an island, officials shouldn’t be too surprised if the word “camps” comes up from time to time.
Latest Discussions»Editorials & Other Articles»Trump orders preparation ...