Trump Says U.S. Will Hold Migrants at Guantánamo

President Trump on Wednesday ordered his administration to prepare to house tens of thousands of “criminal aliens” at the Navy base at Guantánamo Bay, the latest prong in his widening crackdown on immigration.

Mr. Trump did not offer details on how the plan would take shape, but he instructed the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security to get the site ready.

“We have 30,000 beds in Guantánamo to detain the worst criminal illegal aliens threatening the American people,” he said. “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.”

He said the move would “double our capacity immediately,” adding that Guantánamo was a “tough place to get out of.”

In recent weeks, about 40,000 immigrants have been held in private detention centers and local jails around the country as funding constraints have limited the number of detention sites.

Adding 30,000 beds would dramatically expand the government’s detention capacity. A site on the 45-square-mile base could hold those 30,000 deportees. That site is on the opposite side of the body of water called Guantánamo Bay from the Pentagon’s prison for terrorism suspects.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *