The Government of The United States transferred 22 Cuban migrants to the Guantanamo Naval Base as part of a deportation process, the newspaper reported this Tuesday The New York Timeswhich cited people familiar with the matter.
According to the US media, they would be the first Cuban citizens sent to that military installation since January, when President Donald Trump began his second term.
So far this year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has held about 730 men at the Base.
According to the outlet, the Department of Homeland Security refused to say whether they would return the migrants to the custody of the Cuban government.
In a statement Tuesday night, Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said those detained at the Naval Base included people “with prior convictions for homicide, kidnapping, assault, battery, obstruction of law enforcement and cruelty to a child.”
However, the Administration He did not release the names of the Cubans sent to the Basetherefore, according to The New York Timeshis criminal record could not be verified.
Cuba assures that its nationals in the US “suffer persecution” due to immigration policies
Guantanamo as a migrant detention center
The use of the Guantanamo Naval Base as a detention center for migrants has been the subject of criticism within the United States.
In May, Democratic Senator Gary Peters stated during a hearing that the transfer and custody of each detainee at the base could cost up to $100,000 a day.
The measure occurs in a context of toughening of the immigration policy of the current Administrationwhich has requested a significant increase in the budget for immigration law enforcement, with the aim of advancing the mass deportation plan announced by Trump.
Havana criticizes the US for turning its back on its migrants
From Havana, the cuban government has repeatedly condemned US immigration policy.
Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez stated last week that the Cuban residents in the US live under “the fear” generated by Washington’s current strategy and face the constant risk of deportation.
Rodríguez accused American political actors of having encouraged Cuban migration in the past and of now “turning their backs” on those migrants “in exchange for influence, political favors and money.”
In this context, the Trump Administration announced on December 2 the suspension of all immigration applications submitted by citizens of 19 countries included in a travel ban, including Cuba, Venezuela and Haiti.
