As the Trump administration has reportedly begun the first stages of building a migrant-detention facility in Cuba, and the first planes transporting detained migrants from the United States to Guantanamo Bay have already landed at the American naval base there.
According to those acquainted with the situation, about a dozen migrants are on one flight that is slated to depart in the afternoon on Tuesday from Fort Bliss in Texas to Guantanamo.
Another airplane reportedly departed the United States on Monday.
Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, confirmed the news on Fox Business on Tuesday.
A facility to hold some migrants, usually those apprehended on route to the United States at sea, has always existed at the U.S. base at Guantanamo. The base can currently accommodate 120 migrants, but the administration has stated that it will increase activities there to accommodate up to 30,000.
A defense official said about 200 Marines had been sent to Guantanamo in recent days. According to the official, that figure is anticipated to increase to 500 in the days ahead.
Tents will be added to expand the site’s capacity, and the Marines will assist in setting up the infrastructure.
At the White House last week, Trump gave the Pentagon and Homeland Security Department instructions to build a facility that would contain the worst criminal illegal aliens threatening the American people.
He said this when signing a law that was passed in reaction to an illegal immigrant’s murder in the United States.
A request for additional details about the migrants and their criminal histories was not immediately answered by the Homeland Security Department.
The base’s most well-known feature is its infamous prison, where the United States has detained suspected terrorists for almost 20 years.
Since the 1990s, the lesser-known migrant facility has been in existence. A limited number of migrants were housed there by the Biden administration in preparation for their relocation to other nations.
In recent years, advocacy groups have criticized the prison facility and called for its closure.
The center, described as a run-down structure with mold and sewage issues, housed single adults and families with small children, according to a report released last year by the International Refugee Assistance Project based on interviews with prisoners and former employees.
According to the report, detainees were not permitted to disclose any stories of abuse and were not permitted to make private phone calls, including with attorneys.
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