Trump signs ‘morally indefensible’ Guantanamo Bay migrant order

Donald Trump has signed an executive order to prepare a detention facility at Guantanamo Bay for as many as 30,000 migrants. 

The president said on Wednesday (29 January) that he would be expanding the Cuban detention centre, which has been the focus of criticism from human rights groups for the alleged torture of detainees, to house thousands of migrants, Reuters reported.

“Today, I’m signing an executive order to instruct the departments of defence and homeland security to begin preparing the 30,000-person migrant facility at Guantanamo Bay,” Trump said.

Guantanamo Bay is divided into two parts, a prison for foreign terrorism suspects, and an existing migrant facility, which has previously been used to house Haitian and Cuban refugees. According to testimonies from the Guantanamo Public Memory Project, Haitian refugees held there in the 90s, who protested against “crowded” conditions, were “punished with solitary confinement, and women were made to undergo humiliating physical examinations”. 

Trump’s border czar Tom Homan said the administration would expand the existing migrant facility, which would be run by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. 

The facility would be used to “detain the worst criminal illegal aliens threatening the American people”, Trump added.

Guantanamo Bay has been the site of torture, indefinite detention without charge or trial and other unlawful practices by the U.S. government. President Trump should be using his authority to finally close the prison there, not re-purposing the facility for offshore immigration…

— Amnesty International USA (@amnestyusa) January 29, 2025

The detention centre at Guantanamo Bay was set up in 2002 by then president George W Bush to hold foreign suspects after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001. 

The US naval base has reportedly held a total of 780 prisoners since 2002. There are believed to be 15 detainees currently at present. Both Barack Obama and Joe Biden sought to shut down the centre but Trump has vowed to keep it open. 

‘Act of brutality’ 

Trump’s plans to expand the detention centre, also known as Gitmo, have been criticised not only by human rights groups but also fellow politicians, with Cuba’s president Miguel Diaz-Canel describing the move as “an act of brutality”. 

Amnesty International USA claimed the centre has been “the site of torture, indefinite detention without charge or trial and other unlawful practices by the US government”, adding: “President Trump should be using his authority to finally close the prison there, not repurposing the facility for offshore immigration detention.” 

Democrat congresswoman Rashida Tlaib branded the order horrific. “We cannot allow this level of dehumanisation to become normalised… [Guantanamo Bay should be shut down] “once and for all,” she said.

Writing on X/Twitter, US representative Jerry Nadler described the detention centre as a “stain on our nation’s honour”. 

The New York politician went on to say: “For years, I have advocated for its closure, condemning the abuses and glaring lack of accountability that persist there. This expansion into a mass detention camp is morally indefensible and raises significant civil liberties concerns.”

Trump has also been criticised for executive orders that have targeted the LGBTQ+ community, including ones aimed at gender-affirming care, trans service members in the military, and transgender and non-binary people’s ability to use “X” gender markers on their IDs. 

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