United States: The U.S. Department of Homeland Security Director refused Sunday to specify if women and children with families would be part of the Guantanamo Bay detention center expansion by the Trump administration since the law would allow all facilities usage.
Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility Expansion Underway
President Donald Trump of the Republican party announced last week his plans to increase Guantanamo Bay facility capacity to 30,000 at the U.S. naval base in Cuba. Tom Homan, who serves as the White House border czar, announced his plan to initiate migration to the detention center through his public statement, as reported by Reuters.
During their NBC News interview the Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem refused to definitively state whether women, children and families would be detained at the center.
“We’re going to use the facilities that we have,” she told NBC’s “Meet the Press” program. “We have other detention facilities, other places in the country. So, we will utilize what we have according to what’s appropriate for the individuals.”
The administration specifically targets “the worst of the worst” during its detention operations that remove illegal immigrants according to Noem and Homan in Sunday interviews. The enforcement operation in New York City concentrated on criminal suspects.
Trump official declines to say whether women, children to be held at Guantanamo. https://t.co/VLniiEJhvO
— Quantum Pulse (@Quantm_Pulse) February 3, 2025
“The worst of the worst need to go to Guantanamo Bay,” Homan told Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures” program. “We’ve had a migrant processing center there for decades … We’re going to expand it a lot.”
Noem stated that the government would adhere to U.S. law and that the goal was not to detain anyone at Guantanamo permanently.
“The plan is to have a process that we follow that’s laid out in law and make sure that we’re dealing with these individuals appropriately,” she said. “But it is an asset that we have that we fully intend to utilize.”
Noem did not provide any additional information, but he did emphasize that the Homeland Security Department would collaborate with Congress on the facility.
Criticism From Democrats and Human Rights Groups
Democratic Senator Mark Kelly announced to NBC that Guantanamo migrant detention growth produces “a scary feeling for many American citizens.”
The administration did not release information regarding the expansion cost of Guantanamo Bay although it functioned as a facility for foreign militant detention since 2002 following the September 11th attacks. A United Nations expert criticized the Guantanamo facility in 2023 because the U.S. government subjected its prisoners to cruel treatment that violated international human rights standards.
History of Guantanamo Bay’s Controversial Role
During the Clinton administration Haitians and Cubans underwent asylum case processing as they were detained at the migrant facility located at the base.
Human rights organizations have persistently criticized the detention facility at the base as Democratic presidents have attempted to shut it down because of its prolonged detention practices alongside evidence of mistreatment and abuse. The advocacy groups working with migrants and refugees have asked Congress to perform a thorough examination of possible abuses. Trump committed to maintain operations at the outdated base just after his inauguration on January 20, as reported by Reuters.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement received U.S. military permission to intern migrants at Buckley Space Force Base in Colorado, along with other installations.