Guantanamo Could Hold Up To 30,000 Migrants: Hegseth

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has described the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as “a perfect place” to detain up to 30,000 migrants while they await deportation, ABC News reporter Luis Martinez wrote.

Hegseth stated that the naval base’s golf course could potentially accommodate as many as 6,000 detainees. I Photo: U.S. Department of Defense

President Donald Trump recently signed a memorandum directing the Defense Department and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to prepare the base for the possible detention of 30,000 migrants, whom he previously labeled as "high-priority criminal aliens unlawfully present in the U.S."

Hegseth stated that the naval base’s golf course could potentially accommodate as many as 6,000 detainees.

The New York Times reported in September 2024 that the Guantanamo military base has historically been used to detain migrants intercepted at sea, though in a separate area from those held on terrorism-related charges.

From 2020 to 2023, only 37 migrants were held at the facility. However, that number could increase dramatically following Trump’s directive, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).