American military forces have begun dismantling tents set up at the U.S. naval station at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, three months after President Trump ordered preparations to accommodate up to 30,000 migrants. However, no migrants were ever housed in these tents, and currently, only 32 migrants are being held in existing facilities.
In total, 497 migrants have been briefly held at the base as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) uses it as a temporary holding location for detainees awaiting deportation. An agreement between the Homeland Security and Defense Departments now allows for the housing of dozens of ICE detainees at the base rather than the thousands initially envisioned.
The military has indicated that it can expand operations at Guantánamo based on need. However, the decision to remove some tents suggests that there are no immediate plans to accommodate large numbers of migrants as previously anticipated. The tents have been inventoried for potential future use.
As of the latest reports, the task force managing migrant detention at Guantánamo Bay consists of 32 migrants and approximately 725 staff members, including Army and Marine personnel and ICE security officers. This results in a ratio of more than 22 staff members for each migrant.
Since the operation's inception, the Defense Department has estimated expenditures of around $40 million, which includes $3 million spent on tents that were never utilized. Critics, including some Congressional Democrats, have labeled the operation as a misuse of taxpayer funds, arguing that it is more cost-effective to house migrants in U.S. facilities.
Senators have requested a review of the operation for potential fraud, waste, or misconduct, emphasizing concerns over legal authority and the high costs associated with the mission. They noted that the tents did not meet detention standards and were not intended for use in housing migrants.
A senior military official recently testified that accommodating 30,000 migrants would require mobilizing over 9,000 U.S. forces, incurring significant costs for their support. The current operational framework is based on a model from the 1990s, which treated similar situations as humanitarian rather than law enforcement operations.
Under the current agreement, migrants eligible for detention at Guantánamo are classified as “illegal aliens with a nexus to a transnational criminal organization or criminal drug activity,” a designation that the Trump administration considers as violent, based on ICE profiling rather than criminal convictions.
Since February 4, the facility has held 497 individuals, including Venezuelans and Nicaraguans, who have been repatriated through U.S. charter flights. Additionally, a federal court is examining whether military flights may have violated a court order regarding the deportation of migrants to third countries without proper notice.
The Justice Department contends that the military flights were conducted by the Pentagon and fall outside the jurisdiction of the court's order, while the court has mandated the government to provide specific information regarding these flights to lawyers advocating for immigrant legal protections.