In a bold move on the 29th of January, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump declared his intent to sign an executive order directing the Pentagon to prepare Guantanamo Bay to detain 30,000 ‘criminal illegal aliens.’ The facility, long associated with high-profile detainees, would now serve as a holding center for individuals Trump described as the “worst” among those threatening the American people.
“Today, I am also signing an executive order to instruct the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security to begin preparing the 30,000-person migrant facility at Guantanamo Bay,” Trump announced at the White House.
According to him, detaining these individuals at the high-security site would ensure they never return. “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 are going to send them out to Guantanamo,” he stated.
The president further emphasized the facility’s notorious reputation. “Most people don’t even know about it. It’s a tough place to get out of,” he remarked, underscoring the measure’s intent to prevent reentry into the U.S.
“This will double our capacity immediately, right? And, tough,” he added.
Established in 2002 under former President George W. Bush, the Guantanamo Bay detention center was originally set up to hold foreign militant suspects in the wake of the 11th of September, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Now, under Trump’s directive, it would take on a new role in his administration’s immigration enforcement strategy.