Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem did not rule out sending undocumented immigrants who did not commit violent crimes to Guantanamo Bay, where the Trump administration is looking to turn into a facility to hold tens of thousands of people.
"We will have facilities meeting the same standards as others in the U.S. and I don't think the president will tie his hands when it comes to what he has to do to guarantee the safety of the U.S.," Noem said in an interview on CNN.
Asked whether she is comfortable with the legality of taking people to the Cuban enclave, Noem said she is and so is President Donald Trump. "Obviously there'll be people that will be critics of that, but we are standing up the operations, believing we have all legal right and authority to do so, and that facility has been used for migrants in the past," she added.
Migrants have already been flown to Guantanamo, with some being kept in same prison where Al Qaeda suspects have been held. Defense officials confirmed the transfer to The New York Times, marking a contrast between the group and others set to be housed in a separate migrant facility on the base, claiming the former were too dangerous to stay with others.
How length of the detention for the Venezuelans remains unclear. According to a Defense Department statement, Immigration and Customs Enforcement is holding the men temporarily while officials determine whether they will be deported to Venezuela or sent to another destination. The statement emphasized that the measure is intended to ensure "the safe and secure detention of these individuals until they can be transported to their country of origin or other appropriate destination."
The individuals, believed to be members of Venezuelan-born gang Tren de Aragua, were flown from El Paso, Texas, to Guantánamo on Tuesday, when the first military plane arrived in the enclave located in Cuba. "The worst of the worst have no place in our homeland," Customs and Border Protection said in a social media publication when announcing the development.
The Guantánamo Bay base has historically housed both wartime detainees and migrants, though the groups have remained in separate facilities. Migrants have traditionally been under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security, while suspected terrorists have been detained by the Defense Department. The Venezuelan migrants are now held at Camp 6, a medium-security prison with communal areas for dining and recreation, located within the base's detention zone.
Camp 6 is separate from Camp 5, a maximum-security prison that currently holds all 15 wartime detainees in U.S. custody, including individuals accused of planning the September 11 attacks. Both facilities are located on the populated side of Guantánamo Bay, while the migrant tent city under construction is on the opposite side of the water.
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