President Trump said he is signing an executive order on Wednesday to prepare a massive facility at Guantánamo Bay to be used to house deported migrants.
The order will direct the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security to prepare a 30,000-person migrant facility at Guantánamo Bay, a facility in Cuba that has been used to house military prisoners, including several involved in the 9/11 attacks.
“We have 30,000 beds in Guantánamo to detain the worst criminal illegal aliens threatening the American people,” Trump said during an event to sign the Laken Riley Act into law, stiffening the nation’s immigration laws.
“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 Guantánamo,” Trump added. “This will double our capacity immediately. And tough, it’s a tough place to get out of.”
The order is the latest step in a government-wide effort enacted by the Trump administration to remove certain immigrants from the United States.
Guantánamo Bay is best known as a military base where terror suspects are held. It became infamous for accusations of torture and abuse as the U.S. carried out the war on terrorism. The Biden administration sought to wind down operations at the facility. There are 15 detainees still there.
The New York Times last September reported that the base also housed a separate facility to house migrants.
Since taking office on Jan. 20, Trump has signed a slew of executive orders specifically intended to crack down on immigration. He has declared a national emergency at the southern border, deployed military assets to the border, reinstated policies that limit pathways to asylum and paused the refugee program.
His administration has also ramped up deportations, with Immigration and Customs Enforcement posting regular updates about how many arrests it carries out on a day-to-basis.
But the rapid deportations have in some cases led to issues about where to send individuals being removed from the U.S., particularly if certain countries refuse to accept migrants.
The Trump White House on Sunday sparred with the president of Colombia after he initially refused to accept planes of deported immigrants. Colombia later relented after Trump threatened to impose tariffs and sanctions.
Updated at 3:12 p.m. EST
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