Trump plan to house migrants at Gitmo facing major hurdles

The U.S. military is having trouble carrying out President Donald Trump’s order to hold 30,000 migrants in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, U.S. defense officials tell Fox News.

None of the tents set up at the U.S. Naval Station in Guantánamo Bay have been used to house migrants, because they do not meet ICE standards, two U.S. defense officials said.

During his second week in office, Trump ordered the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security to prepare a migrant detention facility to house 30,000 migrants at Guantánamo Bay. “We have 30,000 beds in Guantánamo to detain the worst criminal aliens threatening the American people,” Trump said.

Since that announcement, 256 total illegal migrants have passed through the base, according to U.S. Southern Command. Many of these migrants were labeled as the “worst of the worst” and a threat to the U.S. population, according to the Trump administration. Most of those migrants have been sent back to their home countries.

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As of Wednesday, only 20 migrants were being held at the base. Sixteen “high threat illegal aliens” are being held at the detention facility part of the base, also known as Camp 6, and four migrants are being held at a back-up facility due to the inadequacy of the tents. DHS and ICE have not responded to inquiries regarding what criteria is used to evaluate if a migrant is high threat.

The U.S. military was told to set up the tents without clear guidance on what the standards for holding migrants are, two U.S. officials said. The U.S. military has not received specific guidelines on what the tents need to be certified to hold the migrants. The operation to build more tents was halted in February, just several weeks after it started.  

“The Department of Defense

, in close coordination with our Department of Homeland Security partners, is continuing to prepare the facilities for use. The Department of Defense is committed to ensuring that all individuals housed in these temporary facilities are treated in accordance with DHS/ICE standards,” a U.S. defense official said in a statement to Fox News. 

U.S. military aircraft have not been used to transport migrants since March 1, and there are currently no flights on U.S. military aircraft scheduled to Guantánamo. However, several migrants were scheduled to arrive in an ICE-chartered aircraft Wednesday night, two U.S. defense officials said. U.S. Transportation Command has C-17’s and C-130’s ready to support the migrant mission, but has not been asked to conduct any flights in recent days, a U.S. defense official tells Fox News. 

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“Military airlift is only one option available to DHS to relocate illegal aliens and the DoD stands ready to continue support with additional fights if they are requested,” one U.S. defense official said in a statement to Fox News.

Fox’s Laura Ingraham had an exclusive interview with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Maj. Gen. Phil Ryan, the commanding general for the operation at Guantánamo Bay on Feb. 25. While Ingraham was reporting, a C-130 flight arrived from Fort Bliss, Texas, carrying nine “high value” detainees from Guatemala, Honduras, Guinea, Venezuela and Vietnam.

When Ingraham asked why the U.S. military was using such a big plane for nine migrants, Ryan explained there is at least one ICE officer for each migrant, as well as a medical team on board. Hegseth assured, “we have had groups with more than that.” 

One reason the use of military aircraft has slowed could be due to high cost. A C-17 costs about $28,500 to fly per hour, according to U.S. transportation command. An ICE aircraft costs about $8,500 per flight, per hour, according to a government website.

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Notably, a day after Ingraham’s interview, on Feb. 26, nine migrants were sent back to the U.S. Both DHS and ICE have not responded as to why these migrants were sent back or if these were the same migrants that had arrived the day prior.