In an interview on Sunday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defended President Donald Trump’s decision to send certain illegal aliens to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Noem made the remarks on CNN’s “State of the Union” program with Dana Bash.
“One of the questions is about whether or not, Guantanamo, you have the law on your side to actually use Guantanamo for this purpose,” Bash stated. “We have seen…we know that when somebody who was trying to get into the United States illegally was interdicted at sea, they’ve been brought to Guantanamo…People who are already on U.S. soil have been brought to Guantanamo...”
“Guantanamo Bay has been used for migrants in the past,” Noem said.
“Are you comfortable that it is legal to bring people who are already on U.S. soil to Guantanamo?” Bash said.
“I am. And the president’s comfortable with that, and his legal scholars are. And obviously, there will be people that will be critics of that…We are standing up the operations believing we have all legal right and authority to do so,” Noem asserted.
Bash noted that the timeline for the illegal aliens at Guantanamo depends on when their home country will take them back.
“It could be that some people are going to be there indefinitely,” she said.
Noem responded that this was a result of the Biden administration’s failure to develop agreements with these countries to take the illegal aliens back, namely, Venezuela.
Amid questions over the legality of moving migrants to Guantanamo, @Sec_Noem tells @DanaBashCNN, “The president is comfortable with that… Obviously, there will be people that will be critics of that. But we are standing up the operations believing we have all legal right and… pic.twitter.com/HXWbe3aGtb
— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) February 9, 2025
Join the conversation as a VIP Member