The Trump administration is facing legal action for transferring migrants from the United States to Guantanamo Bay without legal authorization. Immigrant rights advocates have filed a lawsuit, claiming the transfers violate the Fifth Amendment and other laws that prohibit such actions. According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other organizations involved, this is an unprecedented move by the government, as noncitizens detained on civil immigration charges have never been sent to Guantanamo before. The lawsuit argues there is no legitimate reason to send the migrants to the Cuban base.
The ACLU, along with the Center for Constitutional Rights and the International Refugee Assistance Project, is representing noncitizens who are at risk of being transferred. They assert that sending migrants to Guantanamo is a violation of the U.S. Constitution, the Immigration and Nationality Act, and the Administrative Procedure Act. The groups contend that this decision is not only unlawful but punitive and intended to instill fear among immigrants. The lawsuit challenges the government’s attempt to move migrants to the offshore base, which lacks the necessary infrastructure to accommodate detainees.
The lawsuit targets the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, and other agency leaders, seeking to prevent the transfer of ten men from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Venezuela to Guantanamo. The plaintiffs argue that the transfers are both unlawful and without statutory authority, and they call for the government to cease its plans.
The groups filed an earlier suit on behalf of detainees’ families and legal providers seeking access to migrants who had already been moved to Guantanamo. This new lawsuit aims to block future transfers, specifically of individuals currently held in U.S. detention centers in Arizona, Texas, and Virginia. The legal complaint asserts that the government has ample capacity to detain people within the United States, making the decision to move them to Guantanamo unnecessary and costly.
Advocates argue that this action is about more than just logistics and costs; it’s about using the fear of Guantanamo, one of the world’s most infamous prisons, as a tool of intimidation. They stress that the government is spending significant resources to move detainees to an offshore facility that does not have the infrastructure to handle the scale of detention envisioned by the Trump administration.
Lee Gelernt, lead counsel for the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, emphasized that sending migrants to a remote and abusive prison is both illogical and unprecedented. He described it as a political stunt, meant to send a message through fear and intimidation. Baher Azmy, legal director for the Center for Constitutional Rights, pointed to the lawlessness of Guantanamo, where indefinite detention has long been a controversial issue. Azmy called on the courts to reject the Trump administration’s actions and halt the planned transfers.
In response to the growing criticism of Guantanamo’s role in detaining migrants, human rights groups have called for an end to the practice. They argue that the detention facility is not only a symbol of cruelty but also an effort to undermine the rule of law in the U.S. Kimberly Grano, staff attorney with the International Refugee Assistance Project, noted that the history of detaining migrants at Guantanamo had already been marred by abuse, and this new plan only exacerbates those concerns.
The legal battle over these transfers comes amid ongoing challenges to Trump’s immigration policies, including efforts to deport asylum-seekers and other noncitizens. Recently, a federal judge blocked the deportation of eight asylum-seekers, who argued that they had a credible fear of persecution in their home countries. This ruling was part of a larger legal effort to protect immigrants’ rights amid Trump’s ongoing efforts to restrict immigration.
As this new lawsuit proceeds, immigrant and civil rights groups are determined to stop the unlawful transfers, arguing that no individual should be sent to a facility like Guantanamo under the current circumstances.
