The first criminal aliens to be detained in Guantanamo Bay took off Tuesday in a military plane, just days after President Trump announced he instructed the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security to "expand the Migrant Operations Center” at the base “to full capacity.”
"Trump, Pete Hegseth and Kristi Noem are already delivering on this promise to utilize that capacity at Gitmo for illegal criminals who have broken our nation's immigration laws and then have further committed heinous crimes against lawful American citizens here at home,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday morning.
🚨 Karoline Leavitt confirms that flights full of illegals to GITMO have already started 🔥 pic.twitter.com/EDdtMzfKbz
— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) February 4, 2025
There were 10 suspected Tren de Aragua gang members on the first flight, according to reports.
"President @realdonaldtrump has been very clear: Guantanamo Bay will hold the worst of the worst," said Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Tuesday. "That starts today."
President @realdonaldtrump has been very clear: Guantanamo Bay will hold the worst of the worst. That starts today. pic.twitter.com/Iqxt5rCfWa
— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) February 4, 2025
For decades, the U.S. naval base at Guantánamo has had a detention facility used to house migrants intercepted at sea, typically Haitians, Cubans and Dominicans. However, it has been mostly empty for years, and the Trump administration intends to expand it to make room for deported migrants.
"We've always had a presence of illegal immigrants there that have been detained. We're just building out some capacity," said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
"Due process will be followed," she added, "and having facilities at Guantánamo Bay will be an asset to us in the fact that we'll have the capacity to continue to do there what we've always done." (NPR)
Flights to Guantanamo Bay have begun. The worst of the worst have no place in our homeland. pic.twitter.com/RM2ruAtrFl
— CBP (@CBP) February 5, 2025
Trump said last week that Guantanamo Bay could be used to house up to 30,000 individuals who had been in the U.S. illegally.
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