[By Guancha Observer Network, Ruan Jiaqi]
The Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigrants is reportedly planning further escalation. According to The Washington Post and "Politico," the administration plans to move up to 9,000 illegal residents in the U.S. to the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba as early as this week, before deporting them back to their home countries.
Several informed U.S. officials have revealed that these foreign citizens who may be transferred come from multiple countries, with hundreds coming from the U.S.' European allies, including the UK, Italy, France, Germany, Ireland, Belgium, Netherlands, Lithuania, Poland, Turkey, and Ukraine. The rest are mostly from Haiti.
These officials also said that the Department of Homeland Security may not notify the relevant governments of these countries in advance about the transfer operation, including close U.S. allies such as the UK, Germany, and France.
A report by U.S. media outlets cited an official document showing that this plan was recently formulated and still has room for adjustment. The administration argued that the reason for the transfer is to release domestic detention facility capacity, and related preparations include medical screenings for the 9,000 people to confirm their fitness for transfer to Guantanamo. The Department of Homeland Security declined to comment on this. The White House and the State Department also did not issue any comments.
The report stated that this plan has raised concerns among some U.S. diplomats. They pointed out that most European allies cooperate well in receiving deportees and there is no need to send people to Guantanamo.
According to Politico, U.S. officials responsible for European affairs at the State Department are trying to persuade the Department of Homeland Security to abandon the transfer plan.
The aforementioned U.S. officials told U.S. media that many of the detained individuals' home countries have informed the U.S. that they are willing to receive their own citizens. However, the Department of Homeland Security views these actions as slow progress.
"The message we want to convey is to shock, unsettle, and make people panic," a U.S. State Department official familiar with the situation said about the plan, adding, "but we are allies."
Guantanamo Military Base, Visual China
The Washington Post noted that the Trump administration's significant expansion of the scale of transferring illegal immigrants is expected to provoke strong criticism from U.S. allies, who are deeply concerned about the treatment of their citizens in the Guantanamo military base. After the "9/11" terrorist attacks, Washington's anti-terrorism strategy turned Guantanamo into a symbol of torture and abuse worldwide.
In February 1903, the U.S. forcibly leased part of the strategically important Guantanamo Bay area in southeastern Cuba and established a military base. After the Cuban Revolution victory in 1959, the Cuban government has consistently opposed the existence of the U.S. military base in Guantanamo, refusing to accept the rent and demanding the withdrawal of U.S. troops. In 2002, the U.S. military set up a prison in the Guantanamo military base to house suspects captured in the anti-terrorism war. This prison has been widely condemned internationally due to repeated reports of torture and abuse scandals.
Since taking office, President Trump has taken tough measures on immigration issues, attempting to expel a large number of illegal immigrants within the U.S.
On January 29, the first bill signed by Trump after his inauguration was the Larkin Riley Act. According to the act, anyone illegally entering the U.S. and charged with theft and violent crimes must be detained prior to conviction and may even be deported.
On the same day, Trump signed an executive order instructing the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security to expand an illegal immigrant detention facility at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, planning to accommodate up to 30,000 migrants.
This move quickly drew strong opposition from Cuba and some members of Congress within the U.S. On January 29, Cuban President Diaz-Canel posted on X (formerly Twitter), stating, "The new U.S. administration has taken a cruel action by announcing the detention of thousands of forcibly deported migrants at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, which is on illegally occupied territory of Cuba, and placing them next to the notorious prison known for torture and illegal detentions."
On the same day, Cuban Foreign Minister Rodriguez also posted on X, calling the idea of opening an immigration detention center at Guantanamo Bay "an insult to humanitarian conditions and international law."
According to U.S. media reports, based on court documents submitted last week, since February, the U.S. has already detained approximately 500 immigrants at the Guantanamo prison.
On May 20, Gary Peters, the Democratic leader of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, stated during a hearing that the daily cost of housing "illegal immigrants" at the Guantanamo naval base by the Trump administration is as high as $100,000 per person. He condemned it as a typical example of wasteful spending by the Trump administration.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen defended herself by saying she was unaware of the daily cost of housing "illegal immigrants" at Guantanamo.
U.S. media mentioned that the plan to transfer illegal immigrants to the Guantanamo prison coincides with hardline immigration advocates within the Trump camp pushing for the deportation and arrest of more undocumented immigrants. The White House pressured U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to increase arrest numbers, with senior policy advisor Stephen Miller calling last month for ICE to "arrest at least 3,000 people daily."
In recent days, ICE and other agencies have conducted operations targeting illegal immigrants, leading to large-scale protests in Los Angeles, California. As tensions continue to escalate, conflicts between protesters and U.S. police have intensified, with protests erupting in cities such as San Francisco, Austin, New York, and Washington D.C.
Due to the tense situation in Los Angeles, the center of the protests, the U.S. Department of Defense announced on June 9 that it would deploy 2,000 National Guard personnel to the city. The U.S. Northern Command also announced the deployment of approximately 700 Marine Corps soldiers. On July 7, Trump signed a presidential memorandum deploying 2,000 National Guard personnel to the Los Angeles area without Governor Newsom's request for assistance.
This measure was opposed by California Governor Newsom, who accused Trump of attempting to "instigate violence." Governor Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta of California filed a lawsuit against Trump on June 9, requesting the court to rule that Trump's related documents were unlawful and seeking to overturn the order. On June 10, a federal judge dismissed California's request, and Newsom's government continued its appeal.
On the same day, Trump appeared at Fort Bragg, the largest U.S. Army base in North Carolina, where he gave a speech. He described the unrest in Los Angeles as a "total attack on peace, public order, and national sovereignty by a mob waving foreign flags," aiming to continue "foreign invasion" of the U.S.
In defending the deployment of military police, Trump claimed that if these measures were not taken, Los Angeles would "be burned down." He emphasized that the guards deployed to Los Angeles were protecting ICE agents while preventing "invasion." Furthermore, he criticized California's governor and the mayor of Los Angeles for being "ineffective" and declared that the Trump administration would "liberate Los Angeles."
This article is an exclusive piece by the Guancha Observer Network and cannot be reprinted without permission.
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7514494548807107091/
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