Pentagon Scrambles in Response to Trump's Guantanamo Bay Proposal
Defense officials are assessing strategies for managing thousands of individuals at an aging military base that is operating with limited personnel.
TroibNews 
President Donald Trump's initiative to utilize Guantanamo Bay for the detention of migrants presents the Pentagon with a complex and expensive challenge, coinciding with a commitment to refocus the military on its fundamental missions.
The recent executive order to relocate thousands of noncitizens to the outdated military facility in Cuba caught Pentagon officials by surprise. They are currently working swiftly to devise a plan to accommodate as many as 30,000 people, which is significantly more than the 780 detainees who were held at the site during the height of the war on terror.
Defense Department officials are exploring the possibility of using tents for the detainees, but they are confronted with challenges such as tropical weather conditions, limited staffing, and the need for medical care for the migrants. They are also tasked with balancing resource allocation against another Trump directive to send troops to the southern border to enhance security.
“Things are moving as we speak,” said one defense official, who was granted anonymity to discuss a rapidly evolving issue.
This official, along with others, was taken aback by Trump’s Wednesday announcement. Specific details regarding the orders, the timeline for detainee arrivals, or the nature of the housing arrangements remain unclear.
Housing a substantial number of individuals on the 45 square-mile naval base, which has been leased by the U.S. since 1903, would require a logistical effort much larger than what the military has previously managed. Currently, only 15 detainees are left at the base's facility after the Biden administration's efforts to decrease the inmate population by transferring nearly a dozen individuals to Oman.
The new detainees are not expected to occupy the same facilities as terrorism suspects but will likely be housed in tents scattered across the vast Navy base. This approach echoes the military's actions in the 1990s, when former President Bill Clinton directed the processing of Haitian refugees at the base and the detention of thousands of Cuban asylum seekers.
Unlike that earlier mission, which had a clearly defined duration, this situation appears to have no end in sight.
Trump’s executive order tasked his administration with increasing detention space for “high-profile criminal aliens.” The proposal to send migrants to Guantanamo Bay would significantly augment the nation’s detention capabilities, which have been under strain even prior to Trump taking office.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) currently maintains the capacity to detain about 40,000 individuals, with the largest ICE facilities holding approximately 2,000 beds, a far cry from the extensive operation Trump has suggested.
Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar, indicated on Wednesday that ICE would oversee an expanded facility at Guantanamo. However, the specific role of the military remains unclear, though it has traditionally provided security for the facility. The Pentagon might also be tasked with coordinating flights to transport individuals to the base.
The existing facilities on the base are designed for the Coast Guard’s migrant operations. Presently, a small group of individuals, primarily Haitian and Cuban refugees, reside in Guantanamo’s Migrant Operations Center.
A former senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, stated that the Defense and Homeland Security departments could potentially establish a "reasonable tent city" at Guantanamo within 10 to 14 days. However, supplying sanitation, food, potable water, and medical care for tens of thousands of migrants could extend the timeline to several months. These supplies would need to be transported to the base by air or sea. The Trump administration would need to greatly expand its footprint on the base to include a migrant camp with law enforcement, military police, medical personnel, as well as educators and custodians.
“The total cost for this would quickly skyrocket into tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions, of dollars,” the former senior official noted. “Guantanamo can look like the easy button to press, but it brings with it a whole bundle of problems.”
Pentagon spokesperson Chris Sherwood indicated that it remains premature to determine the overall costs associated with the expanded operations at both the southern border and Guantanamo. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth mentioned in a video shared on the Pentagon’s social media platforms that he has consulted with other defense leaders regarding ongoing planning.
“We’re leaning forward on supporting the president’s directive to make sure that we have a location for violent criminal illegals as they are deported out of the country,” Hegseth stated.
The Homeland Security Department opted not to comment on the matter.
The announcement has drawn criticism from immigration and human rights advocates, who perceive it as an attempt to conflate migrants with terror suspects, further demonizing them. Concerns have also been voiced by immigration lawyers and legal experts regarding the feasibility of the plan.
“I can’t imagine how detained immigrants would have access to counsel, funds to pay for attorneys to travel there, lodging, or ease of access to computers to communicate,” asserted Debra Schneider, an immigration attorney who visited a client at Guantanamo nearly 15 years ago. “The suggested idea of 30,000 would be logistically impossible to have the means for an equal number of attorneys for representation.”
Others highlighted apprehensions about the conditions at detention facilities used for terror suspects, coupled with the lack of oversight.
“It’s intended to isolate from legal representation, from oversight, from transparency, from any capacity to provide representation or to even see the conditions to which people are being subjected,” remarked Lucas Guttentag, a former official in the Biden Justice Department and Homeland Security under the Obama administration.
The plan also faces potential legal challenges. Detaining migrants already in the U.S. awaiting immigration court hearings would be unprecedented, according to Tom Jawetz, a senior attorney in the Homeland Security Department during the Biden administration.
“I just don’t know how that’s legal,” he questioned.
Moreover, Trump may encounter obstacles if he anticipates using the facility to detain individuals who have been ordered to leave the U.S. but cannot be returned to their countries of origin, Jawetz noted, now a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress.
The Supreme Court has long maintained that Guantanamo is within Cuba’s sovereign territory. Should Trump choose to send Venezuelan nationals ordered removed to Venezuela, immigration law would mandate his obtaining permission from the Cuban government.
On Thursday, Trump mentioned “countries that won’t take back their criminals” and suggested he may increase the proposed figure of 30,000, adding that the new facilities would be operational “pretty quickly.”
Allen M Lee for TROIB News
The recent executive order to relocate thousands of noncitizens to the outdated military facility in Cuba caught Pentagon officials by surprise. They are currently working swiftly to devise a plan to accommodate as many as 30,000 people, which is significantly more than the 780 detainees who were held at the site during the height of the war on terror.
Defense Department officials are exploring the possibility of using tents for the detainees, but they are confronted with challenges such as tropical weather conditions, limited staffing, and the need for medical care for the migrants. They are also tasked with balancing resource allocation against another Trump directive to send troops to the southern border to enhance security.
“Things are moving as we speak,” said one defense official, who was granted anonymity to discuss a rapidly evolving issue.
This official, along with others, was taken aback by Trump’s Wednesday announcement. Specific details regarding the orders, the timeline for detainee arrivals, or the nature of the housing arrangements remain unclear.
Housing a substantial number of individuals on the 45 square-mile naval base, which has been leased by the U.S. since 1903, would require a logistical effort much larger than what the military has previously managed. Currently, only 15 detainees are left at the base's facility after the Biden administration's efforts to decrease the inmate population by transferring nearly a dozen individuals to Oman.
The new detainees are not expected to occupy the same facilities as terrorism suspects but will likely be housed in tents scattered across the vast Navy base. This approach echoes the military's actions in the 1990s, when former President Bill Clinton directed the processing of Haitian refugees at the base and the detention of thousands of Cuban asylum seekers.
Unlike that earlier mission, which had a clearly defined duration, this situation appears to have no end in sight.
Trump’s executive order tasked his administration with increasing detention space for “high-profile criminal aliens.” The proposal to send migrants to Guantanamo Bay would significantly augment the nation’s detention capabilities, which have been under strain even prior to Trump taking office.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) currently maintains the capacity to detain about 40,000 individuals, with the largest ICE facilities holding approximately 2,000 beds, a far cry from the extensive operation Trump has suggested.
Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar, indicated on Wednesday that ICE would oversee an expanded facility at Guantanamo. However, the specific role of the military remains unclear, though it has traditionally provided security for the facility. The Pentagon might also be tasked with coordinating flights to transport individuals to the base.
The existing facilities on the base are designed for the Coast Guard’s migrant operations. Presently, a small group of individuals, primarily Haitian and Cuban refugees, reside in Guantanamo’s Migrant Operations Center.
A former senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, stated that the Defense and Homeland Security departments could potentially establish a "reasonable tent city" at Guantanamo within 10 to 14 days. However, supplying sanitation, food, potable water, and medical care for tens of thousands of migrants could extend the timeline to several months. These supplies would need to be transported to the base by air or sea. The Trump administration would need to greatly expand its footprint on the base to include a migrant camp with law enforcement, military police, medical personnel, as well as educators and custodians.
“The total cost for this would quickly skyrocket into tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions, of dollars,” the former senior official noted. “Guantanamo can look like the easy button to press, but it brings with it a whole bundle of problems.”
Pentagon spokesperson Chris Sherwood indicated that it remains premature to determine the overall costs associated with the expanded operations at both the southern border and Guantanamo. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth mentioned in a video shared on the Pentagon’s social media platforms that he has consulted with other defense leaders regarding ongoing planning.
“We’re leaning forward on supporting the president’s directive to make sure that we have a location for violent criminal illegals as they are deported out of the country,” Hegseth stated.
The Homeland Security Department opted not to comment on the matter.
The announcement has drawn criticism from immigration and human rights advocates, who perceive it as an attempt to conflate migrants with terror suspects, further demonizing them. Concerns have also been voiced by immigration lawyers and legal experts regarding the feasibility of the plan.
“I can’t imagine how detained immigrants would have access to counsel, funds to pay for attorneys to travel there, lodging, or ease of access to computers to communicate,” asserted Debra Schneider, an immigration attorney who visited a client at Guantanamo nearly 15 years ago. “The suggested idea of 30,000 would be logistically impossible to have the means for an equal number of attorneys for representation.”
Others highlighted apprehensions about the conditions at detention facilities used for terror suspects, coupled with the lack of oversight.
“It’s intended to isolate from legal representation, from oversight, from transparency, from any capacity to provide representation or to even see the conditions to which people are being subjected,” remarked Lucas Guttentag, a former official in the Biden Justice Department and Homeland Security under the Obama administration.
The plan also faces potential legal challenges. Detaining migrants already in the U.S. awaiting immigration court hearings would be unprecedented, according to Tom Jawetz, a senior attorney in the Homeland Security Department during the Biden administration.
“I just don’t know how that’s legal,” he questioned.
Moreover, Trump may encounter obstacles if he anticipates using the facility to detain individuals who have been ordered to leave the U.S. but cannot be returned to their countries of origin, Jawetz noted, now a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress.
The Supreme Court has long maintained that Guantanamo is within Cuba’s sovereign territory. Should Trump choose to send Venezuelan nationals ordered removed to Venezuela, immigration law would mandate his obtaining permission from the Cuban government.
On Thursday, Trump mentioned “countries that won’t take back their criminals” and suggested he may increase the proposed figure of 30,000, adding that the new facilities would be operational “pretty quickly.”
Allen M Lee for TROIB News
