politics
U.S. Transfers 832 Immigration Detainees to Guantanamo Bay as Operation Costs Reach $73 Million
President Trump announced plans for a 30,000-bed immigration detention center at Guantanamo Bay eight days after his 2025 inauguration. Internal documents show the facility held just six Haitian nationals on May 11, 2026, with capacity limited to 400 beds and government employees outnumbering detainees 100 to 1.
May 13, 7:17 AM·2m read1 source
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President Trump announced plans to turn Guantanamo Bay into a massive detention center for 30,000 immigration detainees 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.
But internal federal documents indicate the base's capacity to hold immigration detainees is limited to roughly 400 beds. U.S. government was holding just six immigration detainees at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, all Haitian nationals, according to federal documents obtained by CBS News.
Fewer than 2% of the immigration detention beds at Guantanamo were occupied on May 11. 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 Bay immigration detention operation 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 are assigned to the Guantanamo immigration detention mission.
U.S. military $73 million, according to information provided by the Department of Defense to Sen. Elizabeth Warren in April. That figure exceeds the previously publicly reported cost estimate of $40 million.
CBS News reported that the highly publicized operation remains largely secretive more than a year after it began. U.S. to Guantanamo in February 2025 for holding pending deportation.
