Mexico Rejects US Plan to Transfer Migrants to Guantanamo Bay
Mexico's foreign minister announced that Mexico will not permit the U.S. to transfer Mexican migrants to Guantánamo Bay and prefers to receive them directly. This follows U.S. flights carrying illegal migrants to the detention camp under President Trump's administration.
Mexico will not allow the U.S. government to send Mexican migrants to the Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, detention camp, as stated by Mexico's foreign minister on Tuesday.
Foreign Minister Juan Ramon de la Fuente emphasized that Mexico would prefer to directly receive the migrants.
The Mexican government sent a diplomatic note to the U.S. embassy in Mexico outlining its stance.
This statement follows comments from White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who informed reporters that the Trump administration has begun transporting detained illegal migrants from the U.S. to Guantánamo Bay, although she did not disclose the nationalities of those being flown.
Leavitt added, "I can also confirm that today the first flights from the United States to Guantánamo Bay with illegal migrants are underway." She highlighted that President Trump and other officials are following through on their commitment to use the facility for illegal immigrants who have violated U.S. immigration laws and engaged in serious crimes.
U.S. President Donald Trump has pledged to expand the detention capacity at Guantánamo Bay to accommodate up to 30,000 "criminal illegal aliens." The base has faced global criticism for its treatment of detainees and controversial interrogation methods.
According to the Pentagon, one flight from Fort Bliss to Guantánamo Bay contains approximately a dozen migrants. Another flight departed the U.S. on Monday.
The migrants will be housed in the detention facility established in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, and they will be kept separate from the 15 detainees already held there, including individuals involved in the 2001 terrorist incident.
Recently, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel condemned Trump's initiative to send 30,000 migrants to Guantánamo, calling it an "act of brutality." He criticized the U.S. government's approach, stating, "In an act of brutality, the new US government announces the imprisonment at the Guantánamo Naval Base, located in illegally occupied territory [of Cuba], of thousands of migrants that it forcibly expels, and will place them next to the well-known prisons of torture and illegal detention."
