WashingtonIn a memo issued Wednesday, President Donald Trump ordered the Migrant Operations Center at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay to be fully expanded in order to house high-priority criminal migrants.
As part of larger immigration enforcement efforts, the directive directs the Secretaries of Homeland Security and Defense to expand the facility’s custody capacity. The act is intended to battle criminal cartels operating in the United States and to handle what Trump referred to as a border invasion.
According to the memorandum, I hereby give the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security instructions to take all necessary steps to fully enlarge the Migrant Operations Center at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay. Officials have not disclosed precise numbers on the facility’s present capacity or anticipated growth.
Trump made reference to 30,000 beds, but no other agency has yet to verify this.
Trump’s order would refocus the Migrant Operations Center at Guantanamo Bay to jail criminal noncitizens who are already in the United States, instead of the center’s traditional role of housing migrants apprehended at sea. The length of time detainees would stay at the facility and the selection process for transfers have not yet been disclosed by the administration.
With his administration prioritizing stringent enforcement tactics to limit illegal immigration and criminal activity, the action represents a dramatic escalation in Trump’s immigration policies.
