The first group of “high-threat” criminal illegal immigrants has been transported to Guantanamo Bay for detention, following the Trump administration’s announcement last week that it would begin sending certain illegal immigrants to the military prison. Among these are several members of the notorious Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth shared a video on X showing US military personnel and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents escorting the detainees off a plane to be transported to the military facility.
“The first flight of high-threat criminal illegals aliens has arrived at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,” Hegseth wrote in his post. “These criminals trampled over our previously wide open border to bring violence and mayhem to our communities. President Trump has taken swift action to expel them immediately from our county, and our nation’s finest are helping lead the way in this critical mission.”
According to the Department of Homeland Security, the ten illegal immigrants transported to Guantanamo are members of the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, which was designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the White House last month.
Guantanamo Bay detention camp, established after the September 11, 2001, attacks to house terrorist suspects and “illegal enemy combatants,” is now being used to detain particularly dangerous illegal immigrants while they await deportation. The Defense Department clarified that these detainees are not being held in the same area as Islamic terrorist suspects.
“It’s folks who may be in transit to their home country or a safe, third harbor country, and it’s taking a little time to move with that processing and with the paperwork,” Hegseth previously explained. “Better they be held at a safe location like Guantanamo Bay.”
President Donald Trump issued a memorandum at the end of January directing Hegseth and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to send “high-priority criminal aliens” to Guantanamo Bay. The administration plans to expand the facility’s capacity to hold up to 30,000 detainees, a significant increase from its current capacity of 120.
“Some of them are so bad we don’t even trust the countries to hold them,” the president said prior to signing the memo. “We don’t want them coming back so we’re going to send them out to Guantanamo. This is going to double our capacity immediately.”
This story was originally published at Turning Point USA.
