Overview

• A March 7 memo signed by DHS and Pentagon officials broadens detention criteria to include migrants with tenuous ties to transnational criminal organizations or unclear entry statuses.
• The updated policy contradicts President Trump's January 2025 statement that only high-priority criminal aliens would be targeted for detention.
• The memo permits sending asylum-seekers or migrants who paid smugglers for entry to Guantanamo Bay, regardless of their visa status or criminal record.
• Critics highlight the omission of a criminality assessment in the guidelines, raising concerns over due process and potential human rights violations.
• Guantanamo Bay, historically associated with counterterrorism detention, is being repurposed as part of the administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement strategy.