GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba — The first group of high-threat illegal immigrants removed from the United States under President Donald Trump’s new deportation policy arrived Tuesday at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
The 10 individuals, identified as members of the transnational criminal organization Tren de Aragua, were flown to the U.S. naval base following last month’s White House designation of the group as a foreign terrorist organization.
“Their campaigns of violence and terror in the United States and internationally are extraordinarily violent, vicious and similarly threaten the stability of the international order in the Western Hemisphere,” a White House executive order stated.
The detainees are being housed in vacant detention facilities at the base and are not being held alongside detainees from the war on terror, according to officials. The transfer follows a White House directive issued last month instructing the Department of Defense and DHS to expand detention operations at Guantanamo Bay to temporarily hold high-priority criminal aliens before their deportation.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed that many of these individuals are being transported directly to their countries of origin on U.S. military aircraft, a new practice known as using “gray tails” for deportation flights. In some cases, he said, detainees must be held temporarily before their return.
“We want somewhere else to hold them safely in the interim—criminal illegals—Guantanamo Bay … is a perfect place,” Hegseth said last week. “It’s folks who may be in transit to their home country or a safe, third harbor country, and it’s taking a little time to move with that processing and with the paperwork.”
Hegseth described the use of Guantanamo Bay for detaining high-threat migrants as a “plan in movement” as the administration prepares for expanded deportation efforts.
“We’re ramping up for the possibility to expand mass deportations because President Trump is dead serious about getting illegal criminals out of our country,” Hegseth said. “And the DOD is not only willing to [but] is proud to partner with DHS to defend the sovereignty of our southern border and advance that mission.”
Trump’s administration has intensified immigration enforcement since returning to office, with Guantanamo Bay now serving as a temporary holding facility for high-risk individuals awaiting deportation.
