Immigrants’ rights advocates, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), signed a letter requesting immediate access to and information about nearly two dozen migrant detainees who have been transferred to the U.S. Navy base Guantánamo Bay. The letter, addressed to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Department of Defense (DOD) and State Department secretaries, states there has been extremely limited information about the transferred noncitizens released beyond reports that 10 of the initial detainees have alleged association with the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. The Trump administration’s plans to house 30,000 violent migrant offenders at the base’s Migration Operations Center (MOC) is particularly alarming to these organizations, who are raising concerns about the limited capacity, access to legal counsel, and details on their holding conditions. The letter demands free and unmonitored phone calls and in-person visits, as well as clearly established legal standings on which the migrant detainees are being held. 

“The noncitizens being held in Guantánamo are not in criminal custody and, therefore, cannot be subject to punitive conditions, including conditions that reduce their access to counsel. Nor are they detainable by the military under any authorization for the use of force,” the letter states, “The government cannot attempt to subvert the statutory and constitutional rights afforded to these noncitizens in the United States by transferring them to an offshore prison and holding them incommunicado without access to counsel or any means of contact with the outside world.”

The DOD and State Department have not yet responded to requests for comments on the letter; however, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin wrote, “If the AMERICAN Civil Liberties Union cares more about highly dangerous criminal aliens that include murderers and vicious gang members than they do about American citizens then they should change their name,” in an email.

The Trump administration’s unprecedented decision to use Guantánamo Bay as a large-scale migrant holding facility is extremely concerning on several fronts. The MOC is reported to have a maximum 200-person capacity and lacks basic necessities to humanely support that volume as it is. Further, detainees in the center are held without means of communicating with the outside world or with legal counsel. It is imperative that the Trump administration critically review the legality of this use of authority by the executive branch and military to ensure the protection of basic civil liberty. The letter penned by the ACLU should receive a proper response from the administration, the DOD, DHS, and the State Department. Civil and immigration rights, as well as the demand for access and information, are underpinned by the Constitution and guaranteed for everyone present in the U.S., regardless of immigration or criminal status. 

Guantánamo Bay was established in 2002 as a high-security holding facility for suspected terrorists. Often called a “legal black hole”, its infamous reputation stems from its holding of mainly Muslim men and boys without charge or trials, as well as the use of torture. The base also faced scrutiny for its migrant holding facility, which has been previously criticized by the ACLU for its unsanitary conditions and migrants’ lack of access to confidential phone calls. On January 29th, President Trump issued a memorandum that directed the DOD and DHS to expand Guantánamo’s capacity for “criminal aliens.” Since his first presidential campaign, Trump has notoriously propagated xenophobic remarks, consistently referring to undocumented immigrants as criminals despite improper entry being a civil offense. Further, while he stated that Guantánamo Bay would be used for detainees who have committed violent and gang-related crimes, there are reports of nonviolent low-risk noncitizens being transferred.

The Trump administration’s aggressive and militarized immigration policies mark an alarming rolling back of civil rights and human rights protections. Should the ACLU’s demands for transparency surrounding detainee treatment and legal access not be met with compliance, a dangerous precedent that normalizes indefinite detention of migrants under military authority could be set. Such policies reinforce exclusionary and xenophobic practices that could escalate tensions with American allies like Mexico and Colombia and separate the U.S. from guaranteed constitutional protections and global humanitarian principles. Upholding and respecting fundamental rights is not just a legal obligation, but fundamental to U.S. founding principles and essential to a just society.