Guantanamo Bay To Be Expanded As Holding Center For Illegal Immigrants Under Trump’s Order

The Trump administration has announced that Guantanamo Bay will be used to detain up to 30,000 illegal immigrants as part of an expanded effort to remove criminals from the United States. The move, revealed Wednesday, directs the Department of Defense and Homeland Security to increase the site’s capacity.

President Donald Trump explained that those detained at the naval base will be among the most dangerous criminals. “Most people don’t even know that we have 30,000 beds in Guantanamo to detain the worst criminal illegal aliens threatening the American people,” he said during the announcement.

The military base in Cuba has a history of holding terrorism suspects, but it has also housed detained migrants for years. Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, clarified that this is not a new facility but an expansion of an existing operation. “There’s already a migrant center there, and we’re simply going to build on it,” he stated.

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed that the facility will not be a long-term detention site but a processing center for deportations. The administration has already deported thousands of illegal immigrants since Trump took office, with plans to accelerate removals further.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem reaffirmed the administration’s intent to crack down on illegal immigration. “We are committed to removing dangerous individuals and ensuring they never return,” she said while discussing the expansion.

Cuban officials have condemned the decision, with President Miguel Díaz-Canel claiming that the U.S. is violating Cuban sovereignty. Despite the criticism, Trump’s administration has defended the move as a necessary step in addressing illegal immigration.