Migration policy: Trump wants to send criminal migrants to Guantánamo

US President Donald Trump wants to have a custody center for criminal migrants set up at the US Navy base Guantánamo Bay. Trump said at an event in the White House that 30,000 of the “worst criminal illegal immigrants” could be detained in the future. The Republican announced that he would instruct the Department of Defense and the Ministry of Homeland to start preparing for it.

Trump initially announced no further details about the surprising advance. He said with a view to some criminal migrants and their home countries: “Some of them are so bad that we don’t even trust the countries to capture them because we don’t want them to come back.” The 78-year-old continued: “So we will send her to Guantánamo.” It is difficult to get out of there.

Controversial military prison

The US Naval base Guantánamo Bay in Cuba is notorious for a controversial prison camp that the United States had built after the attacks of September 11th. At times, almost 800 people were detained there. At that time, the camp was set up under Republican President George W. Bush to capture alleged Islamist terrorists without a process. Human rights organizations have long been calling for closure. However, a small number of prisoners are still housed there.

Trump has been driving a tough course in migration policy since taking office. He made the announcement in a ceremony in the White House, in which he signed a law that significantly tightened the procedure against certain migrant groups.

For days, his government has also been promoting the arrest and deportation of criminal migrants and those without a residence permit. The Republican had promised almost every day in the election campaign that he would start “the biggest deportation program in American history”.