
The refurbishment of a golf course at the US military base at Guantanamo Bay will be able to house 6,000 illegals who will be sent there under President Donald Trump’s executive order, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth told Fox News.
Trump previously signed an executive order directing the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security to prepare a 30,000-strong migration center at the Guantanamo Bay base to hold the most dangerous criminal illegals.
‘Guantanamo Bay is a place that is designed to safely hold migrants separate from U.S. citizens. The golf course at the Navy base, if expanded, would provide an additional 6,000 beds where migrants and illegals could go,’ Hegseth said.
Earlier, the presidential administration had already announced a large-scale campaign to deport migrants. The White House stressed that it plans to attract additional funding to expand detention and deportation centers.
Guantanamo Bay is home to the US military base of the same name, where a prison for international terrorists was opened after the 11 September 2001 attacks. The facility soon became a target of criticism from human rights activists for holding prisoners without trial and torturing them. In total, about 800 people passed through the prison.
Former US President Barack Obama signed an executive order to close Guantanamo more than 10 years ago, but was unable to implement it because Congress refused to fund the prison’s dismantling. His successor Trump formally cancelled the executive order, although no new prisoners have been added to Guantanamo under his watch. Joe Biden’s administration has stated a commitment to closing the prison. By the start of Trump’s new term, 15 prisoners remained there.