WP: Trump secretly sends thousands of migrants to Guantanamo, Ukrainians may be among them
The administration of US President Donald Trump is preparing to begin transferring potentially thousands of foreigners who are in the United States illegally to the military base in Guantanamo Bay this week, The Washington Post reported, citing US officials familiar with the matter.
The foreigners who may be sent come from a variety of countries. Among them are hundreds from European countries, including the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Germany, Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Poland, Turkey and Ukraine, as well as from other parts of the world, including many from Haiti.
The administration is unlikely to notify the governments of the foreigners' countries of origin about upcoming transfers to Guantanamo, including close U.S. allies such as Britain, Germany and France, officials said.
The preparation includes medical screening of 9,000 people to determine if they are healthy enough to be sent to Guantanamo.
Trump administration officials say the plan is necessary to free up space in domestic detention centers, which have become overcrowded amid Trump's promise to carry out the largest deportation of illegal immigrants in American history.
The document, which the publication reviewed, states that "GTMO", the government abbreviation for the base, "has not been exhausted."
In January, Trump announced he would send up to 30,000 migrants to the facility. Dozens of migrants who were being held at the base in March were sent back to facilities in Louisiana, which critics of the administration's immigration "crackdown" said was due to capacity issues.
A defense official said that "current missions at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base remain unchanged," and they "do not comment on any speculative future missions."
"The Department of Homeland Security intends to 'minimize' the time detainees spend at the Caribbean base, but the White House may decide to use the facility for longer detention, according to an official document," the publication writes.
U.S. officials have said that the individuals being screened for transfer are in the United States illegally. Many countries have notified the U.S. of their willingness to take their citizens, but officials say they have not acted quickly enough.
"These plans, which may be subject to change, come as hardline immigration advocates in the Trump administration push for more deportations and arrests of illegal immigrants," the journalists note.
- On January 24, 2025, White House spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt released the first footage of the deportation of illegal immigrants from the United States.
- On February 7, Indian migrants deported from the US said they were held in shackles for 40 hours on the flight.
- On April 13, The Washington Post reported that the Trump administration is seeking to deport a million migrants within a year .
- Clashes have been ongoing in the California city since the evening of June 6 between residents of a predominantly Latino neighborhood and federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents . This comes amid immigration raids initiated by the Trump administration.
