These are about 9,000 people in an irregular situation, coming from numerous countries.
14ymedio, Madrid, 11 June 2025 — Nearly 9,000 immigrants, 800 of them European citizens, could end up in the detention center at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, in eastern Cuba. The news, leaked Tuesday by Politico and expanded hours later by the Washington Post, has raised concerns among some State Department officials because it implicates nationals of allied countries that cooperate with the repatriations.
The process is imminent and could begin this Wednesday, according to documents and testimony from both media outlets. The 9,000 people being evaluated for transfer to Guantánamo include a multitude of Haitians and others from various countries, including Russia.
But what has drawn the most attention is the presence of hundreds of Europeans, from the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Germany, Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Poland, Turkey, and Ukraine, among those mentioned, although the possibility of more is not ruled out. The officials who provided the information to the media requested anonymity because the information is “highly sensitive.” Even more serious, the document contemplates the possibility that the affected countries will not be notified in advance of the measure.
“The message is to shock and horrify people, to unsettle them. But we are allies,” a State Department official told Politico.
“The message is to shock and horrify people, to unsettle them. But we are allies,” a State Department official—who is familiar with the plan and whose identity has also been withheld— told Politico. According to this source, diplomats from the agency led by Marco Rubio are trying to dissuade the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) by arguing that it is unnecessary to open a conflict with cooperating countries.
The only known reaction so far comes from Italy, whose government is among those most in tune with the current US administration. Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has said he will speak with the Secretary of State on Thursday to clarify the situation but does not foresee any problems.
“Italy has already informed the US administration that it is willing to welcome back the illegal immigrants, with full respect for their individual rights and consular assistance. Therefore, there should be no possibility of Italians being taken to Guantánamo,” he explained on Wednesday. “There’s no need to dramatize the situation because the Italians would be repatriated to Italy. We don’t know how many illegal immigrants there are; we have no data. But we will do everything possible to ensure that no Italians are taken to Guantánamo,” he added.
The opposition, however, has already cried out against the mere possibility. “We are facing an event of unprecedented gravity, which not only affects Italian citizens, but also the overall panorama of human rights in the United States,” said Angelo Bonelli of the Greens and Left Alliance. Centrist Raffaella Paita was not far behind. “The very idea of deporting immigrants to a military base known for human rights violations is indecent and immoral. The government must act firmly to protect our fellow citizens,” she said.
“The very idea of deporting immigrants to a military base known for human rights violations is indecent and immoral. The government must act firmly to protect our fellow citizens.”
Among the preparatory tasks included in the document is the incorporation of medical examinations of those affected, to assess whether they meet the health requirements for transfer. This finding is disturbing, especially given that the Guantanamo Bay detention center is linked in memory to the human rights violations and abuses documented at the prison, which was used for years to house jihadists detained for terrorism.
The prison is a separate facility from the center that temporarily houses undocumented migrants, about 500 in recent months and 70 at the moment. However, a report published in September 2024 by the New York Times, based on internal government reports, revealed that detainees face precarious conditions at Guantánamo, including allegations that they are forced to wear opaque glasses during transfers within the base, that their calls with lawyers are monitored, and that some facilities are infested with rats.
The document states that the stay at Guantánamo would be temporary, but no timeframe is set. Spokespeople for DHS and the State Department have declined to comment officially on the matter, while a Defense official said there were no changes and would not discuss possible “future missions.”
Politico notes that the situation coincides with the exponential increase in detained illegal immigrants, as well as the demand by Stephen Miller, Trump’s advisor on the matter, to arrest 3,000 people per day. This keeps the country’s detention centers at capacity, hence, presumably, the idea of freeing up space with the move to Guantánamo, which the president already announced in January when he ordered its expansion to 30,000 beds for this use.
Migrant rights organizations, which filed a complaint, believe that there is no problem of space and that the use of Guantanamo is for propaganda purposes.
Migrant rights organizations, which filed a complaint, believe there is no such space issue and that the use of Guantánamo is for propaganda purposes, given the terror the name generates and the conditions experienced in the area designated for immigrants. The case is pending before U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee.
The Guantanamo Bay naval base, leased to Cuba since 1903—despite the current regime’s opposition—covers 113 square kilometers and houses, on average, about 140 prisoners. According to Democratic Senator Gary Peters of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, the cost per detainee is around $100,000 per day.
The Army installed an extension in February with tents for about 3,000 people, but it was dismantled shortly afterward due to lack of use. According to the Washington Post, the current documents state that it is underutilized.
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