Migrant flight heads to Guantanamo Bay as legal questions swirl around Trump plans

As tents went up in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to hold migrants, attorneys at the Department of Homeland Security and Pentagon were still trying to determine whether it was legal to take the unprecedented step of flying migrants from the US southern border to the facility, according to two US officials and a person familiar with the planning.

As tents went up in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to hold migrants, attorneys at the Department of Homeland Security and Pentagon were still trying to determine whether it was legal to take the unprecedented step of flying migrants from the US southern border to the facility, according to two US officials and a person familiar with the planning. On Tuesday, a military flight carrying migrants is expected to head to Guantanamo Bay, according to one of the officials. The move stems from President Donald Trump’s memorandum directing the federal government to prepare the US Naval base there to house tens of thousands of migrants. While Guantanamo Bay hosts a migrant-processing center, it has largely been used for migrants interdicted at sea, not brought from the United States. “They’d be pushing the limits of where the (Immigration and Nationality Act) applies,” said a former Homeland Security official. Immigration law applies to the United States, and it’s unclear what would happen to those moved out of the country only to be held in detention elsewhere. The source familiar with the plan said questions like how long the migrants can legally be held there, and what their rights would be while detained, are still unanswered. It is also unclear whether the migrants will have any access to legal or social services while detained at the base. Senior Trump officials have continued to tout the plan, casting it as a facility designed for criminals.