The first planeload of criminal migrants has arrived at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, where a small migrant detention center is being expanded to house tens of thousands.
A Department of Homeland Security source told The Post that the detainees are “highly dangerous” illegal migrants.
A military plane carrying about a dozen migrants departed from Fort Bliss, Texas, Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported, landing later that the Navy base in southern Cuba.
The first planes with illegal migrants have departed for Guantanamo Bay. X/Secretary Kristi Noem
US Marines boarding a KC-130J Super Hercules at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, on February 2, 2025, as they deploy to Naval Station Guantanamo Bay in Cuba to support migrant holding operations. US Department of Defense/AFP via Getty Images“The first flights from the United States to Guantanamo Bay with illegal migrants are underway,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed to Fox Business.
“He’s not messing around,” she said of President Trump.
President Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 29 which directed the Pentagon and Department of Homeland Security to prepare Guantanamo Bay for 30,000 detainees. X/Secretary Kristi Noem
Guantanamo Bay has traditionally been used to house foreign terrorists captured by the US. X/Secretary Kristi NoemDepartment of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem released photos of the first arrivals, which showed grim-faced men in handcuffs and grey prison uniforms being marched across a Texas tarmac onto waiting transport planes.
“President [Trump] has been very clear: Guantanamo Bay will hold the worst of the worst. That starts today,” Noem said.
There were numerous planes lined up with their bay doors open in the photos released by Noem.
Guantanamo Bay has traditionally been used to house foreign terrorists captured by the US, but has always had room — about 120 beds — to house migrants caught trying to sneak into the US through the Gulf of Mexico.
President Trump plans to expand Guantanamo’s capacity to hold illegal immigrants, signing an order on Jan. 29 directing the Pentagon and Department of Homeland Security to prepare the naval base for 30,000 detainees.
“So we’re going to send them out to Guantanamo,” Trump said while announcing the order. “This will double our capacity immediately, right? And, it’s a tough place to get out of.”
The memorandum directed agencies to “take all appropriate actions to expand” Guantanamo’s facilities “to full capacity to provide additional detention space for high-priority criminal aliens unlawfully present in the United States.”
Guantanamo would be used to house “the worst of the worst” of those criminal migrants, border czar Tom Homan said. X/Secretary Kristi NoemAbout 200 US Marines have been dispatched to Guantanamo Bay to prepare the facility for the new influx of detainees, and at least 500 are expected to be there within days.
Among the preparations will be the erection of tents across the facility’s 45 square miles to increase capacity.
Trump has launched a sweeping crackdown on illegal immigration in the US, dispatching ICE agents across the country to round up thousands of illegal immigrants with criminal records in the operation’s first phases.
Guantanamo would be used to house “the worst of the worst” of those criminal migrants, border czar Tom Homan also said.
Newly-appointed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has called Guantanamo Bay the “perfect place” for “hardened criminals
The facility has been leased to the US Navy by Cuba for decades, and gained a notorious reputation over allegations of torture and inhumane treatment of terrorists who were held there.
About 700 terror suspects were housed there at the height of the facility’s use during President George W. Bush’s war on terror. Only 15 terror suspects remain held at Guantanamo today.
Guantanamo was used to house about 50,000 Haitians and Cubans seeking asylum in the US between 1991 and 1996.
