Tens Of Cubans, Some Considered 'High-Threat,' Become First Migrants Sent To Guantanamo Bay In Months

At the start of his second term, President Donald Trump announced plans to reopen the infamous Guantanamo Bay detention center, established in the early 2000s to hold suspected terrorists following the Sept. 11 attacks.

Although Trump's initial plan envisioned holding tens of thousands of migrants at the facility, only a few hundred have been transferred there since January. According to a recent report by The New York Times, the U.S. naval base, which had been empty since October, received its first set of detainees this week when 22 Cuban migrants arrived.

People familiar with the matter told the outlet that the 22 individuals are believed to be the first Cuban citizens sent to Guantanamo Bay since January, when administration officials set up a tented holding center for migrants designated for removal.

With the addition of the 22 Cuban nationals, data obtained by the outlet shows that Immigration and Customs Enforcement has held a total of about 730 men at the base, most from Latin American countries, including El Salvador, Guatemala and Venezuela.

Among those currently held at Guantanamo Bay are five men deemed "high-threat illegal aliens," according to a Defense Department official who spoke to the outlet on the condition of anonymity because only ICE and homeland security officials are authorized to discuss the operation.

Detainees considered high risk are typically held at a prison that formerly housed suspected Al Qaeda members captured overseas in the war on terror. The remaining Cuban men are being held at a dormitory-style site that has long been used to shelter migrants seeking asylum from Caribbean nations.

The detention center had been unoccupied since mid-October, after 18 men were relocated to El Salvador and Guatemala. Later that month, ICE agents, contractors, and other nonessential personnel were moved back to the mainland ahead of Hurricane Melissa, but returned last month once cleanup was completed.

The Trump administration has defended its use of Guantanamo by citing national security concerns. In a Jan. 29 executive order, the president said the expansion of operations at the naval base was part of a broader strategy to "dismantle criminal cartels."

The detention facility has drawn sharp criticism from human rights advocates and attorneys, who have denounced inhumane conditions, the detention of individuals without access to legal counsel, and other human rights violations.

According to The New York Times, the transfer of the 22 Cuban nationals marked the first since a federal judge in Washington ruled that the Trump administration lacked the authority under U.S. law to detain migrants designated for deportation at offshore military facilities.

On Dec. 5, U.S. District Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan in Washington, D.C., said the administration had overstepped its powers by holding migrants at Guantanamo Bay. The judge also denied the government's request to dismiss a class-action lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, which is expected to pursue an order to close the naval base.

Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said last week that the agency plans to appeal the ruling.

"We look forward to a higher court affirming our use of this facility to keep criminals off American streets," she told The Associated Press.