Washington DC: United States President Donald Trump said on Wednesday (local time) that he will sign an executive order to prepare a facility at Guantanamo Bay to house deported migrants, The Hill reported.
The order will direct the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security to prepare a 30,000-person migrant facility at Guantanamo Bay.
The facility in Cuba has been used to house military prisoners, including several involved in the 9/11 attacks, The Hill reported.
“We have 30,000 beds in Guantanamo to detain the worst criminal illegal aliens threatening the American people,” Trump said during an event to sign the Laken Riley Act into law.
“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 Guantanamo,” Trump added. “This will double our capacity immediately. And tough, it’s a tough place to get out of.”
This order is the latest step in Trump’s effort to deport immigrants from the United States.
About Guantanamo Bay
Guantanamo Bay is known US military base where terror suspects are held. It came into bad light amid accusations of torture and abuse by the US in their war against terrorism. Former President Joe Biden administration wind down operations at the facility. There are 15 detainees still there, The Hill reported.
One of the first actions Trump took after assuming office was the indefinite suspension of the US refugee admissions program. This suspension effectively banned the entry of all refugees, including those fleeing war-torn regions like Ukraine, Afghanistan, and countries in Central America such as Venezuela and Haiti.
In addition to suspending refugee admissions, the Trump administration also halted a number of programs that offered legal pathways for immigrants from countries facing dire crises. This included stopping the use of the parole immigration policy, which allows individuals to be admitted on humanitarian or public interest grounds.
Under this policy, refugees from Afghanistan, Ukraine, and other nations in crisis were granted entry into the US on parole. The administration has since ordered that parole applications for these refugees, including Ukrainians sponsored by Americans through the Uniting for Ukraine initiative, be stopped. Roughly 240,000 Ukrainians had entered the US through this process.
The administration also stopped renewing parole status for Afghans who were brought to the US after the fall of Kabul in 2021. While many of the 70,000 Afghan evacuees have already gained asylum or special visas for those who aided the American military, this move could cause some individuals to lose their legal status.
The directive also impacted parole programs for other immigrant groups, including a sponsorship initiative for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans, as well as a policy that allowed Central American youth to reunite with relatives in the US, reported CBS News
Donald Trump Shuts Down CBP One App
Shortly after Trump’s inauguration, his administration also shut down the mobile application CBP One, which had allowed migrants in Mexico to request a scheduled entry into the US at official border points. Under the Biden administration, the app had been used to process 1,500 migrants per day, facilitating a more organised way for asylum seekers to present themselves at ports of entry.
Last week, the Trump administration also authorised Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to revoke the parole status of those who had entered the US under Biden’s administration, including over 530,000 individuals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, as well as nearly one million migrants who had used CBP One. These actions are part of a broader strategy by the Trump administration to limit immigration pathways, regardless of whether individuals enter legally or illegally.
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