(Washington, DC) – On January 29, 2025, United States President Donald Trump ordered the construction of a 30,000-bed facility at the Guantánamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba to detain migrants.
President Trump’s statement that he intends to use Guantánamo to detain migrants because “[w]e don’t even trust the countries to hold them [and] we don't want them coming back,” suggests an intention to hold people in limbo for a long time. Guantánamo is a remote, highly controlled overseas US military installation, which the US government has used to evade legal protections and public scrutiny. Human Rights Watch has documented cases of deaths and inhumane treatment of immigrants in detention centers throughout the US.
“The name Guantánamo is synonymous with shame and infamy as the site of torture where prisoners are still being held for years without charge or trial,” said Bill Frelick, refugee and migrant rights director at Human Rights Watch. “When detention becomes prolonged and indefinite and untethered from proper oversight, it violates human rights and may amount to torture.”
