President Donald Trump has ordered the expansion of a migrant detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to house up to 30,000 detainees. Announcing the plan Wednesday, Trump framed it as a move to hold “criminal illegal aliens” deemed a threat. The facility will be managed by ICE and built on the base’s existing infrastructure.
Officials say Guantanamo personnel are prepared to handle detainees, but civil rights groups warn the plan may spark legal challenges over detainees’ rights. Critics cite concerns of indefinite detention without trial, an issue with Guantanamo’s history of alleged rights abuses.
This decision comes amid Trump’s intensified immigration crackdown, which includes troop deployment to the U.S.-Mexico border and a new law enabling easier detainment of undocumented immigrants.
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