JUST IN: Illegal Migrant Flights To GITMO Officially Underway

President Donald Trump has authorized the first flights of illegal migrants to Guantanamo Bay.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the development, saying that the administration is taking swift action to prevent America from becoming a “dumping ground for illegal criminals from nations all over the world.”

“Trump is not messing around,” Leavitt said during a Fox Business interview Tuesday. “El Salvador has not just agreed to the repatriation of their own citizens, but also illegal criminals from other nations who will then be sent to their prisons.”

“Venezuela as well has agreed to repatriation flights, and Colombia also agreed to cooperate with the repatriation of illegal Colombian nationals that we have found in the interior of our country. I can also confirm that today, the first flights from the United States to Guantanamo Bay with illegal migrants are underway,” she announced.

Democrats are expected to oppose the move, but Trump has made it clear that his administration will not back down from its commitment to securing the nation’s borders. This follows President Trump’s directive for the federal government to prepare the US Naval base to accommodate a large influx of migrants.

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Historically, Guantanamo Bay has been utilized primarily for processing migrants intercepted at sea, rather than those transferred from within the United States. Private contractors and the government are intensifying discussions to construct several tent facilities capable of housing 30,000 people at Guantanamo Bay, a source involved in the planning revealed to CNN.

These facilities will primarily accommodate single adults. They are slated to be transported to Guantanamo Bay via military flights before being sent back to their home countries.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who previously served at Guantanamo Bay during his active duty, has described the location as the “perfect place” for housing migrants. Recently, additional U.S. troops have been deployed to the facility to assist in its preparation.

Aerial view of the U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay Cuba. Jul. 1 1994.

Guantanamo Bay, often referred to as GITMO or GTMO, holds a rich and complex history that intertwines with significant geopolitical events. Located on the southeastern coast of Cuba, it has been under U.S. control since 1903, following the Spanish-American War.

The U.S. obtained a lease for Guantanamo Bay through the Platt Amendment, incorporated into the Cuban Constitution. This allowed the establishment of a coaling and naval station, with the 1934 Treaty of Relations reaffirming Cuba’s sovereignty while granting the U.S. indefinite control over the area.

Initially a strategic naval outpost, Guantanamo Bay played a critical role during the World Wars, especially in World War II, serving as a base for anti-submarine operations in the Caribbean. However, its role shifted dramatically after the Cuban Revolution as U.S.-Cuba relations soured.

In January 2002, in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, the U.S. government established the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp during the War on Terror initiated by President George W. Bush. Located on the naval base, the camp was strategically chosen to be outside U.S. legal jurisdiction.

This location was thought to facilitate the detention and interrogation of suspected terrorists without U.S. legal constraints. The camp initially detained suspected members of al-Qaeda and the Taliban, labeling them “enemy combatants”—a term intended to deny them the protections of the Geneva Conventions.