U.S. Holding 6 Immigration Detainees at Guantanamo Bay as Military Prepares to Expand Capacity

U.S. military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, into a massive detention center to hold 30,000 detainees facing deportation, just eight days after returning to the White House in 2025. Mr.

Trump said in January 2025 that officials would set up 30,000 detention beds at Guantanamo. Internal federal documents show the base's capacity to hold immigration detainees is limited to roughly 400 beds. U.S.

Government was holding six immigration detainees at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, all of them nationals of Haiti, according to federal documents obtained by CBS News. Fewer than 2% of the immigration detention beds at Guantanamo were occupied that day. Over the past year, 832 immigration detainees have been transferred to Guantanamo Bay on more than 100 flights.

Government employees outnumbered detainees at the Guantanamo immigration detention roughly 100 to 1 this week. The Department of Defense has 522 personnel assigned to assist with immigration detention at Guantanamo. U.S.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement and non-military staff assigned to the Guantanamo mission. U.S. military $73 million, an increase from the previously publicly reported estimate of $40 million.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren received the projected cost for the Guantanamo operation. CBS News reported that the $73 million figure covers only the military's portion of the operation. U.S.

To Guantanamo. C. issued a preliminary ruling in December that the immigration detention effort at Guantanamo was impermissibly punitive and likely unlawful. The judge stopped short of blocking the Guantanamo immigration detention operation.

DHS spokeswoman Lauren Bis stated: "If you come to our country illegally and break our laws, you could end up in Guantanamo Bay, CECOT, or a third country. U.S. Southern Command stated the military would continue to support ICE's illegal alien removal operations at Guantanamo Bay.

The spokesperson added that capacity at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base is scalable and designed to adjust to mission needs. U.S. government under both Republican and Democratic presidents had used Guantanamo to house some migrants intercepted at sea, including tens of thousands of Haitians during the Clinton administration.

Detainees considered low-risk have been housed at the Migration Operations Center, a barrack-like facility previously used for asylum-seekers intercepted at sea. Those deemed high-risk have been held at Camp VI, a section of the post-9/11 prison complex that still holds some terrorism suspects.