The administration of President Donald Trump has sparked a new wave of international controversy after revealing plans to relocate thousands of undocumented immigrants, including hundreds of European citizens, to the military base in Guantánamo, Cuba.
The plan, which could begin to be implemented this week, has been revealed by Politico and confirmed by The Washington Post, based on internal documents and official sources from the U.S. government.
According to the leaked documents, more than 9,000 migrants are undergoing medical examinations as part of a selection process for their eventual relocation to the naval base located in Guantánamo Bay.
This figure represents a dramatic increase compared to the approximately 500 migrants who have briefly passed through that facility since last February.
The official justification is to free up space in the country's detention centers, many of which have reached their maximum capacity due to the increase in arrests.
It is a plan that goes beyond a mere temporary relocation.
Trump ordered in January to prepare the facilities to accommodate up to 30,000 migrants, in what would be the most ambitious extraterritorial detention operation in recent U.S. history.
The first migrants to be relocated to the mentioned place as part of the new immigration policy of the United States were Venezuelans with criminal records and allegedly members of the criminal gang "El Tren de Aragua."
However, some of these undocumented individuals ended up being sent to the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), located in El Salvador, as part of a cooperation agreement between the two nations.
Europeans in the spotlight of the transfer
One of the most surprising elements of the plan is that at least 800 of the migrants who could be relocated are citizens of European countries, including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, Ukraine, Turkey, and Lithuania.
Politico reveals that the State Department is attempting to persuade the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to abandon this part of the plan, given the diplomatic sensitivity involved in sending citizens from allied countries to a notoriously infamous detention center.
"The message is meant to shock and horrify people, to disturb them. But we are allies," said a State Department official to Politico, speaking on condition of anonymity.
So far, Spain has not been specifically mentioned among the countries with affected citizens, but reports indicate that the list is not finalized.
Initial diplomatic responses
The first official European reaction came from Italy.
The Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, firmly rejected the transfer of Italian citizens to Guantanamo, stating that his country has offered full cooperation to repatriate its nationals.
"Italy has already informed the U.S. Administration that it is willing to take back irregular migrants, with full respect for their individual rights and with consular assistance. Therefore, there should be no possibility of Italians being taken to Guantánamo," stated Tajani, as reported by the Spanish news portal 20 Minutos.
Other European countries, although they have not made an official statement, have privately expressed their concern over the lack of prior notification and the diplomatic precedent that allowing their citizens to be sent to a military base without prior trial or consular coordination would set.
Guantánamo as a Migration Tool
The Guantanamo Naval Base, located on Cuban territory leased by the U.S. since 1903, became an emblem of the U.S. anti-terrorism fight following the attacks of September 11, 2001.
There, over the years, more than 780 terrorism suspects were kept in confinement, under conditions that human rights organizations have described as arbitrary, inhumane, and lacking due process.
Now, under Trump's presidency, that same base is used as a temporary detention center for migrants, many of whom have been expelled under expedited procedures.
Although the White House insists that this is a temporary solution, the cost, detention conditions, and the symbolic background of the location have raised alarms.
Senator Gary Peters, a Democrat and chair of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, reported that the cost of operating Guantanamo is approximately $100,000 per day for each detainee.
Furthermore, the facility lacks sufficient staff, faces infrastructure problems, and has limited medical access, factors that, according to The Washington Post, even concern high-ranking officials at the Pentagon.
Conditions reported to the authorities
In parallel, a class-action lawsuit filed in a federal court in Washington by the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) denounces the "punitive" conditions to which migrants detained in Guantanamo are allegedly subjected.
Currently, according to the resource, there are about 70 migrants detained at the base.
"The government has not identified any legitimate purpose for holding immigrants detained in Guantánamo, instead of in detention centers within the United States. [...] The defendants are using the threat of detention in Guantánamo to intimidate immigrants, deter future migration, induce self-deportation, and force detained individuals to accept deportation without appeals," the lawsuit argues.
The case is being examined by Judge Carl Nichols, appointed by Trump during his first term.
An operation under political pressure
The resurgence of Guantánamo as a detention center for migrants occurs within the context of a general intensification of immigration policy.
The principal advisor to Trump, Stephen Miller, has pushed for ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to make 3,000 arrests daily, which has led to the collapse of many detention facilities.
At the same time, the administration is urging Congress to increase funding for new centers and deportation agents.
Some officials from the DHS have expressed that, although the countries of origin of many migrants have shown a willingness to repatriate them, they have not done so with the urgency demanded by Trump, which would justify their immediate transfer to Guantánamo without prior notice.
An unprecedented measure with wide-ranging impact
Donald Trump's plan to use Guantanamo as a mass detention center for migrants not only represents an unprecedented radicalization of U.S. immigration policy but could also trigger a diplomatic crisis with key allies in Europe.
Legal doubts, high operational costs, reported conditions, and the symbolic burden of the military base in Cuba make this measure controversial.
So far, neither the Department of Homeland Security nor the State Department have provided official comments.
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