British citizens among 9,000 immigrants to be sent to Guantanamo
Trump to start transfers to the notorious former prison within days as he ramps up campaign to deport illegal immigrants
Hundreds of tents have been set up at the former prison site to house detained migrants Credit: AFN Guantanamo Bay Public Affairs
At least 9,000 undocumented immigrants, including British citizens, are to be sent to Guantanamo Bay detention camp, according to reports in the US.
The first transfers are due to start within days, as the Trump administration ramps up its campaign to deport illegal immigrants.
In January, Donald Trump announced plans to house 30,000 migrants in the notorious camp on Cuba, which was previously used as a military prison to house combatants captured during George W Bush’s “war on terror” following the September 11 attacks on the US.
According to documents seen by Politico, the plan is to hold the migrants at the camp for a short period before deporting them back to their home country.
Guantanamo currently holds roughly 500 people.
This move represents a further toughening of the administration’s immigration policy, which has seen masked snatch squads lifting suspected illegal immigrants off the streets.
The official reason for detaining migrants at Guantanamo is to free up space in migrant detention centres in the US itself, especially with the White House setting a target of 3,000 arrests a day.
However, critics say the administration believes using Guantanamo will serve as a deterrent for new illegal immigrants and encourage those already in the country to self-deport.
An estimated 800 Europeans are on the list of potential Guantanamo detainees, with the Washington Post saying they include British and French citizens.
It is a move which has reportedly alarmed European diplomats, given that they have previously co-operated in the repatriation of their own citizens.
“The message is to shock and horrify people, to upset people,” one State Department official told Politico.
In Washington, a court is considering a plea to outlaw the use of Guantanamo to house migrants, with the American Civil Liberties Union claiming they are being held in dire conditions in a rodent-infested camp, where detainees are denied a weekly change of clothing and adequate food.
In its writ, the ACLU accused the administration of using Guantanamo “to frighten immigrants, deter future migration, induce self-deportation, and coerce people in detention to give up claims against removal and accept deportation elsewhere”.
This was denied by the US Justice Department, which told the court that Guantanamo is being used as a temporary staging post.
Previously, nine British citizens were held at Guantanamo, of which five were repatriated in March 2004. A further nine who had residency status in the UK, but not citizenship, were also held at the camp.
The State Department confirmed that “illegal aliens” were being sent to Guantanamo as a temporary measure, but declined to comment on discussions with individual foreign governments regarding their citizens.
The Telegraph also approached the Department of Homeland Security for comment.