On Thursday, all 178 migrants flown to Guantánamo since Feb 4 — including 127 illegally placed in the “war on terror” prison — were repatriated (and with one sent back to the US).
Dispiriting news via the New York Times, which reports that 15 new migrants arrived at Guantánamo from Texas yesterday evening. The nationalities of the men were not disclosed, but according to the Times, "a government official said they were in the category of 'high-threat illegal aliens,' and therefore were being held in Camp 6, a prison that until last month housed detainees in the war on terrorism."
I genuinely didn’t expect migrant flights to resume so quickly after all of the 178 men transferred so far were removed on Thursday — all but one repatriated to Venezuela — and I especially didn’t think that Trump would continue using Camp 6 of the "war on terror" prison, when, as has been repeatedly established via rights groups, and via my own research and reporting, this is blatantly illegal, because the prison, by law, can only be used to hold individuals allegedly connected to Al-Qaeda, the Taliban or associated forces, in relation to the 9/11 attacks and other acts of related international terrorism.
I’m hoping we’ll hear soon about a legal challenge addressing the Trump administration’s particularly blatant contempt for the rules regarding who can — and can’t — be held in the "war on terror" prison. Over the years, all previous efforts to send new categories of "unpeople" to Guantánamo have been rebuffed, because, to do so, Congress would need to pass new legislation to authorize their imprisonment. It happened, noticeably, with various efforts over the years to suggest that ISIS members should be held there, none of which ever materialized.
For Trump and his administration — via the DHS, and the DoD in particular — to so disdainfully disregard the lack of Congressional authorization for holding migrants in the military prison, and to double down on doing so via yesterday’s flight, needs to be explicitly challenged as swiftly as possible.
Thanks so much for the feedback, Meredith. I'm very glad to hear that you appreciate my efforts - and, of course, kudos to the ACLU, CCR and IRAP (the International Refugee Assistance Project).
Dispiriting news via the New York Times, which reports that 15 new migrants arrived at Guantánamo from Texas yesterday evening. The nationalities of the men were not disclosed, but according to the Times, "a government official said they were in the category of 'high-threat illegal aliens,' and therefore were being held in Camp 6, a prison that until last month housed detainees in the war on terrorism."
I genuinely didn’t expect migrant flights to resume so quickly after all of the 178 men transferred so far were removed on Thursday — all but one repatriated to Venezuela — and I especially didn’t think that Trump would continue using Camp 6 of the "war on terror" prison, when, as has been repeatedly established via rights groups, and via my own research and reporting, this is blatantly illegal, because the prison, by law, can only be used to hold individuals allegedly connected to Al-Qaeda, the Taliban or associated forces, in relation to the 9/11 attacks and other acts of related international terrorism.
I’m hoping we’ll hear soon about a legal challenge addressing the Trump administration’s particularly blatant contempt for the rules regarding who can — and can’t — be held in the "war on terror" prison. Over the years, all previous efforts to send new categories of "unpeople" to Guantánamo have been rebuffed, because, to do so, Congress would need to pass new legislation to authorize their imprisonment. It happened, noticeably, with various efforts over the years to suggest that ISIS members should be held there, none of which ever materialized.
For Trump and his administration — via the DHS, and the DoD in particular — to so disdainfully disregard the lack of Congressional authorization for holding migrants in the military prison, and to double down on doing so via yesterday’s flight, needs to be explicitly challenged as swiftly as possible.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/23/us/politics/trump-migrants-guantanamo-bay.html
Thank you Andy for your reporting on this. And to CCR and ACLU.
Thanks so much for the feedback, Meredith. I'm very glad to hear that you appreciate my efforts - and, of course, kudos to the ACLU, CCR and IRAP (the International Refugee Assistance Project).