Officials from the U.S. immigration and military sectors announced on Monday that individuals from 27 different countries were currently being held at Guantanamo Bay Naval Station in Cuba. They also shared new information about the conditions in which these individuals are being confined, while defending the government’s authority to transfer and detain immigrants at the military base.
Court documents filed on behalf of the Homeland Security and Defense departments revealed that as of Friday, there were 40 immigrants with final deportation orders at Guantanamo Bay. Of these, 23 were classified as “high risk” and held in individual cells, while the rest were kept in a separate area designed for groups of up to six individuals.
Civil rights lawyers filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration earlier this month to prevent the transfer of 10 migrants detained in the U.S. to Guantanamo Bay. Statements from detainees held at the base described mistreatment and harsh conditions, with one individual referring to it as “a living hell.”
In response to the lawsuit, the Justice Department argued that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has the authority to detain immigrants with final removal orders at Guantanamo Bay as long as their removal is likely to happen in the near future. The government also stated that the intention behind mass removal efforts is to deter illegal migration.
While ICE and military leaders claim that detainees at Guantanamo Bay are being treated with dignity and respect, the base has faced criticisms for not allowing in-person visits by legal counsel and for using restrictive measures like hand and leg restraints on detainees who pose a threat to themselves.
The Trump administration has expressed plans to send criminal migrants to Guantanamo Bay, but civil rights attorneys argue that many detainees held there do not have serious criminal records. Lee Gelernt, an ACLU attorney representing immigrants seeking to block transfers to Guantanamo, stated that they do not have a complete list of detainees or their countries of origin.
The lawsuit involves 10 men who arrived in the U.S. between 2023 and 2024, primarily from Venezuela, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. Trump had previously announced intentions to expand immigrant detention facilities at Guantanamo to accommodate up to 30,000 people, with the first group of nearly 200 Venezuelan immigrants being transferred there in early February and later repatriated.
As of Friday, no Venezuelans remained detained at Guantanamo Bay.
The individuals detained following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, are held in a small, dedicated facility that has been used for many years to house migrants. Tent structures capable of accommodating 520 immigrants have been set up but are not currently being utilized. Furthermore, migrants are being housed in a medium-security facility designed similar to American prisons. It is important to note that the migrant detention center is distinct from the military detention center and courtrooms established by President George W. Bush during his administration’s “war on terror.”
