Overview

• The White House plans to vet at least 9,000 undocumented migrants for transfer to Guantanamo Bay starting this week, marking an exponential rise from the 500 held there since February.
• President Trump first announced in January a plan to detain up to 30,000 migrants at the remote U.S. naval base in Cuba.
• Human rights advocates, lawmakers and legal experts warn that remote detention creates jurisdictional issues, limits access to counsel, with costs of roughly $100,000 per detainee per day.
• This expansion is part of a crackdown pairing mass deportations with Marine and National Guard deployments at border points, including recent actions in Los Angeles.
• Critics warn that Guantanamo Bay’s history of rights abuses, combined with its remote location, could exacerbate humanitarian and legal challenges for detainees.