Immigrants' rights advocates have called on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Department of Defense (DOD), and State Department to grant immediate access to noncitizens who have been transferred from U.S. immigration detention facilities to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. This request comes ahead of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem's scheduled visit to Guantánamo on Friday.
Lee Gelernt, Deputy Director of the Immigrants’ Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union, stated, "Sending immigrants from the U.S. to Guantánamo and holding them incommunicado without access to counsel or the outside world opens a new shameful chapter in the history of this notorious prison." He further criticized the Trump administration's actions as unlawful.
The letter urging action was signed by over a dozen organizations including the American Civil Liberties Union, Americans for Immigrant Justice, and others such as Human Rights First and Texas Civil Rights Project.
The letter raises concerns about various aspects of these transfers: "Questions abound regarding the authority for these transfers, which agency will have custody of the noncitizens, where they would be housed," it states. It also highlights that ten Venezuelan noncitizens have already been transferred with more deportation flights reportedly on their way.
In addition to seeking access to those detained at Guantánamo Bay, these groups are requesting detailed information on several issues:
- The immigration status of those detained
- Criteria used by the government for selecting individuals for transfer
- Which agency holds custody at Guantánamo
- Legal authorities invoked for transferring and detaining individuals
- Duration of detention and future plans
"The government cannot attempt to subvert the statutory and constitutional rights afforded to these noncitizens in the United States by transferring them to an offshore prison," warns another part of their statement.
The full letter can be accessed through this link: https://www.aclu.org/documents/urgent-request-for-access-to-and-information-regarding-immigrants-transferred-from-the-united-states-and-detained-at-guantanamo-bay
