Trump illegally imprisons migrants in the Guantánamo “war on terror” prison
A genuinely shocking update regarding Trump’s imprisonment of migrants at Guantánamo Bay.
Following up on the troubling story of Donald Trump sending noncitizens to Guantánamo Bay as part of his “war on migrants”, I hope you have time to read my important update on my website, Trump is Illegally Holding Migrants Seized in the US in the “War on Terror” Prison at Guantánamo Bay.
In a disturbing development, it has emerged that ten Venezuelans seized on the US mainland and flown to Guantánamo are not being held in the migrant detention facility that has been used for migrants intercepted at sea since the 1990s, but are being held instead in Camp 6 of the "war on terror" prison, established in 2002.
The photo above, made available by the Department of Homeland Security, shows some of these migrants as they were about to be put on a plane to Cuba from the US mainland.
While the legality of sending migrants to the Guantánamo naval base has not been established, it is abundantly clear that no authority whatsoever exists to justify imprisoning migrants in the "war on terror" prison — even those, like these men, who are accused of involvement in the Tren de Aragua gang, designated as a terrorist group.
As the Center for Victims of Torture explained in an important briefing yesterday, only those allegedly involved with Al-Qaeda, the Taliban or associated forces, in connection with the 9/11 attacks, can be held at the "war on terror" prison, according to the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), which justified its very specific use as a detention facility for these people, and these people alone.
As CVT added, the AUMF "does not authorize military detention of migrants, criminals or anyone broadly designated as a 'terrorist' or member of a Foreign Terrorist Organization."
As lawyers begin to prepare legal challenges, it seems inconceivable that the Trump administration can defend its actions — but these are such troubling times that nothing about the law seems certain anymore, as Trump seeks to position himself as thoroughly unaccountable.
Please do read my article, and share it if you find it helpful.
Plus some media appearances
On Wednesday, as the migrants story was alarming Guantánamo-watchers and the human rights community, I undertook a half-hour interview with Chris Cook for his weekly Gorilla Radio show in western Canada. Chris has taken an interest in my work for more years than either of us probably care to remember, and you can find the show here — it’s also on Substack, so please subscribe or follow if you appreciate Chris’s important mission of “providing a forum for people and issues not covered in the corporate media.”
I also spoke online about Guantánamo to the weekly gathering of the ICUJP (Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace) in Los Angeles, as the story was first breaking, discussing the prison’s history, alongside the attorney Michael Rapkin, who represented two prisoners in Guantánamo’s early years. This was a moving and inspiring event, and you can watch the video here, on YouTube.