U.S. planning to send thousands of undocumented migrants — including Ukrainians — to Guantanamo without notifying their governments
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is
preparing to transfer thousands of undocumented migrants to the infamous
Guantanamo Bay detention center, including citizens of Ukraine, the United
Kingdom, France, and Italy — without informing their governments in advance, The
Washington Post reported on June 10, citing U.S. officials.
According to WP, the move could involve “potentially
thousands of foreign nationals unlawfully present in the United States.”
Beginning this week, these individuals are expected to be relocated to the U.S.
military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, sources familiar with the plan told the
paper. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, shared documents
confirming the relocation plans.
Among those slated for transfer to Guantanamo are reportedly
hundreds of citizens from “U.S.-friendly European countries,” including
Ukraine, the U.K., Italy, France, Germany, Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands,
Lithuania, Poland, Türkiye, and other parts of the world. The report also notes
the inclusion of a large number of migrants from Haiti.
WP’s sources say the White House is unlikely to notify the
countries whose citizens are being detained and relocated. Even close U.S.
allies such as the U.K., Germany, and France would reportedly be kept in the
dark about the move.
The preparations for the transfer include medical screenings
for 9,000 individuals to determine if they are healthy enough to be held at
Guantanamo. The base, located on the southeastern coast of Cuba, is known
globally for its use as a prison for terrorism suspects and detainees captured
during U.S. overseas military campaigns following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
It remains unclear whether the Guantanamo facility can
accommodate 9,000 additional detainees, WP writes. If carried out, the plan
would mark a dramatic increase over the several hundred undocumented migrants
already sent there by the Trump administration since the beginning of 2025.
In January 2025, Trump announced plans to send up to 30,000
migrants to Guantanamo. However, dozens of those detained there in the spring
were later returned to holding centers in Louisiana. Critics of the
administration’s immigration policy argue this reversal was likely due to
capacity issues at the Guantanamo camp, according to the report.
Trump officials say the transfer plan is necessary to
relieve pressure on domestic detention centers, which are overcrowded due to
the administration’s push for what Trump has called the largest deportation
operation in U.S. history.
Documents reviewed by WP indicate that the base’s capacity
has “not yet been exhausted.”
Neither the Department of Homeland Security nor the White
House responded to WP’s request for comment about the sharp increase in
detainees being sent to Guantanamo.
While Homeland Security reportedly wants to “minimize” the
time migrants spend at the facility, internal documents suggest the White House
may seek to use it for longer-term detention.
The article’s authors predict that the White House’s move to
send thousands of foreigners to Guantanamo will “draw criticism from U.S.
allies” concerned about how their citizens are treated at a military
installation that has become “a global symbol of torture and abuse” since
Washington’s post-9/11 counterterrorism campaigns.
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