53 migrants now illegally held in the “war on terror” prison at Guantánamo

Via his efforts to rebrand the “war on terror” as a “war on migrants”, Trump is hopefully heading for a crash, especially with his 100% illegal use of the Guantánamo prison.

I hope you have time to read my latest detailed article on my website, Horror at Trump’s Guantánamo: 53 Migrants Now Held Illegally and Incommunicado in the “War on Terror” Prison.

It’s my analysis of the screamingly insane position we’re currently in regarding Donald Trump’s “war on migrants”, and, specifically, his use of Guantánamo, where, as of February 12, 98 Venezuelan migrants had been sent from the US mainland, with 45 of them being held in the Migrant Operations Center used since the 1990s, and 53 in Camp 6 of the notorious “war on terror” prison, after the three remaining “low-value detainees” held since 2002 — all long approved for release, but still held — were moved into the neighboring Camp 5, where the other remaining prisoners, 12 “high-value detainees”, mostly brought to Guantánamo in September 2006, are also held.

The legality of sending any migrant from the US mainland to Guantánamo is extremely dubious, but it is beyond doubt that holding any of these men in the “war on terror” prison is absolutely illegal, because the authorization for holding prisoners there, passed after the 9/11 attacks, stipulates that they can only be people accused of involvement with Al-Qaeda, the Taliban or associated forces, in connection with 9/11.

Framing this in the context of Trump’s wider “war on migrants”, I analyze the cynical comparisons being deliberately made with the “war on terror”, I examine the lawsuit submitted last week seeking access to the prison for lawyers representing the migrants, and I also examine the stories that have emerged of three of these men, which reveal the same sweeping generalizations and distortions that were used to demonize Muslims in the “war on terror.”

As with the almost entirely non-existent terrorists at Guantánamo, beginning 23 years ago, the migrants seem not to be “the worst of the worst” at all, as the Trump administration suggests, but entirely unconnected with any kind of criminal activity — one being a car mechanic, and another a barber — who were doing nothing more than trying, with the odds stacked against them, as for so many migrants, simply to get into the US to work.

The Close Guantánamo vigils continue

Also this week, I posted the latest photos, plus my report, from the “First Wednesday” global vigils for the closure of Guantánamo that took place recently, in Washington, D.C., London, New York City, Brussels, Cobleskill, NY, Detroit, Los Angeles and Mexico City.

Please have a look at what solidarity and persistence looks like here: Photos and Report: Global Close Guantánamo Vigils Resume As Trump Begins Illegally Holding Migrants in the Prison.

I initiated the vigils two years ago, and although we were all pretty shell-shocked because of the return of Trump, and, very particularly, of course, through his use of Guantánamo in his “war on migrants”, we remain determined to continue the vigils as long as Guantánamo is open, and also to build alliances with groups representing migrants for the next vigils on Wednesday March 5. Do get in touch if you can help, or want to be involved. We do think that the carnage Trump is wreaking deserves as big a response as possible!