The first military flight transporting migrants to the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp from El Paso for the Department of Homeland Security departed Biggs Army Airfield on Tuesday. The camp in Cuba is currently undergoing modifications that will allow for up to 30,000 migrants to be held at the facility located within the Naval Station Guantanamo Bay.
Once a military prison designed to house terrorists and enemy war combatants, the facility will now undergo renovations that will allow for the detention of up to 30,000 migrants. The announcement to utilize the facility for that purpose was made by President Trump shortly after signing the Laken Riley Act in late January.
The Department of Homeland Security did not provide the exact number of detainees on the flight to GTMO. Still, according to a report by the Military Times, ten migrants were slated to be on the initial flight. All previous statements by Trump administration officials have indicated the use of the facility for migrant detention at GTMO will be for those considered “high threat level migrants.”
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem posted photos of some of the detainees as they boarded the maiden flight.
According to a U.S. Southern Command press release, additional military service members, including a contingent of U.S. Marines with the 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, and other elements from within the U.S. Southern Command, and U.S. Army South were deployed to Naval Station Guantanamo Bay over the weekend to support the DHS and DOD joint effort to detain migrants at the GTMO detention camp.
According to the Department of Defense, the latest addition of troops brings the total number of soldiers supporting the operation to more than 150.
Congresswoman Veronica Escobar (D-TX) was quick to respond to the news of the flight on social media and issued the following statement criticizing the move:
I have just learned that a flight left from Biggs Army Airfield at Fort Bliss to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
As a reminder, the situation on the border does not merit the use of military resources-El Paso currently has capacity, apprehensions are down, and the use of Guantanamo Bay is predicted to cost hundreds of millions of dollars. These measures are nothing more than unnecessary and cruel political theater and a gross misuse of federal funds and military personnel.
In late January, the newly appointed Secretary of Defense stated the use of GTMO for migrant detention, saying the base has been used for migrant operations and regional humanitarian relief and disaster relief in the past. “This is not the camps,” Hegseth added. “This is a temporary transit which is already the mission of Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, where we can plus-up thousands — and tens of thousands, if necessary — to humanely move illegals out of our country where they do not belong [and] back to the countries where they came from in proper process.”
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Prior to his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @RandyClarkBBTX.
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