ACLU sues White House to halt transfer of 10 immigrants to Guantanamo
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This marks the second time the ACLU legally challenges the White House on this matter, as the Trump administration moves to deport 30,000 illegal migrants to the infamous Guantanamo Bay
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President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, on Wednesday, February 26, 2025. (AP)
Civil rights attorneys have sued President Trump's administration to prevent it from sending 10 illegal immigrants to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, in the second legal challenge of Trump's plan to hold up to 30,000 people in Guantanamo for deportation.
The latest federal lawsuit, applying to 10 men facing transfer to the naval base in Cuba, comes as their attorneys say the administration will not inform them of who will be transferred or when, mirroring a case filed earlier this month in Washington for access to current detainees, backed by the ACLU.
A minimum of 50 people have been transferred to the US Naval Base in Cuba, and civil rights attorneys believe the number to be 200. This is the first time the US government has held non-citizens on civil immigration charges in Guantanamo, which was primarily used for 9/11 attack detainees.
“The purpose of this second Guantánamo lawsuit is to prevent more people from being illegally sent to this notorious prison, where the conditions have now been revealed to be inhumane,” stated Lee Gelerent, ACLU attorney and lead counsel on this case, adding that the lawsuit is not claiming they cannot be detained in US facilities, but only that they cannot be sent to Guantánamo.”
Originally, Trump said that he intends to send the high-risk "criminal aliens" there, however, attorneys say that the 10 men being sent to Guantanamo are neither high-risk criminals nor gang members.
Trump's Guantanamo plan faces backlash
US President Donald Trump announced on January 29 that he would direct the Pentagon and Homeland Security to prepare a migrant detention facility at Guantanamo Bay for up to 30,000 migrants as part of his crackdown on undocumented immigrants.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel condemned the decision, calling it an "act of brutality", emphasizing that the forcibly expelled immigrants will be placed "next to well-known prisons of torture and illegal detention."
A report by The Guardian published on February 20 backs President Diaz-Canel's claim, revealing that the immigration detention center set up in Guantanamo is being operated by Akima, a corporate conglomerate with a track record of controversial practices at other migrant facilities nationwide.
Despite instances of inappropriate force and unsafe conditions, Akima received a $163.4 million contract from the Biden administration in August 2024 to manage the Guantanamo migrant detention center until June 2029.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) wrote to Trump requesting access to immigrants transferred to Guantanamo Bay, stating that "The Constitution, and federal and international law prohibit the government from using Guantánamo as a legal black hole."
"We thus seek that the government grants our groups access to the noncitizens incarcerated at Guantánamo so that those persons have access to legal counsel and advocates and the public may have clarity regarding the conditions under which the government is keeping them," the letter reads.
