US Begins Migrant Transfers to Guantanamo Bay Detention Center

The new facility will accommodate up to 30,000 detainees.

In a significant move, the United States has sent its first group of migrants to Guantanamo Bay since President Donald Trump's announcement to bolster migrant detention at the controversial military base.

According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the detainees are linked to the Tren de Aragua, a criminal gang that originated in Venezuela’s prisons.

The group of ten individuals was transported on Tuesday from the Fort Bliss Army base in Texas to the U.S. Navy base in Cuba, as confirmed by U.S. officials speaking to CBS News.

This development follows a directive from Trump last week, which called for the expansion of an existing migrant detention facility at Guantanamo Bay.

The new facility will accommodate up to 30,000 detainees and will be managed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Guantanamo Bay has a long history of housing immigrants, dating back to the 1970s when Presidents Ford and Carter held Haitian asylum seekers there.

The facility’s expansion is expected to significantly increase the cost of immigration detention. Estimates suggest that it could raise the average annual cost of detention, currently at $57,378 per bed, by five times.

As of mid-2024, ICE has contracted with a private prison company to maintain 120 beds, at an annual cost of around $32.68 million.