USATrump wants to send criminal migrants to Guantánamo
SDA
29.1.2025 - 22:02
ARCHIVE - US President Donald Trump. Photo: Mark Schiefelbein/AP/dpa
Keystone
US President Donald Trump wants to set up a detention center for criminal migrants at the US naval base at Guantánamo Bay. Trump said at an event in the White House that 30,000 of the "worst criminal illegal immigrants" could be detained there in future. The Republican announced that he would instruct the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security to begin preparations for this.
Keystone-SDA
29.01.2025, 22:02
SDA
Trump initially gave no further details on the surprising move. Referring to some criminal migrants and their home countries, he said: "Some of them are so bad that we don't even trust the countries to detain them because we don't want them to come back." The 78-year-old went on to say: "So we will send them to Guantánamo." It is difficult to get out of there.
Controversial military prison
The US naval base at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba is notorious for being a controversial prison camp set up by the United States after the September 11 attacks. At times, almost 800 people were imprisoned there. The camp was set up under Republican President George W. Bush to hold suspected Islamist terrorists without trial. Human rights organizations have long been calling for the camp to be closed. However, a small number of prisoners are still being held there.
Trump has been pushing ahead with a tough course on migration policy since taking office. He made the announcement at a ceremony in the White House, where he signed a law that significantly tightens the crackdown on certain groups of migrants.
For days now, his government has also been stepping up the arrest and deportation of criminal migrants and those without a residence permit. During the election campaign, the Republican had promised almost daily that he would launch "the largest deportation program in American history".