 "‘Unnecessary, extraordinarily expensive’: Trump administration spends $40 mn to jail 400 immigrants at Guantanamo")
A group of five US senators has sharply criticised the Trump administration for spending nearly $40 million in a single month to detain a few hundred migrants at the military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, describing the operation as a misuse of military resources and a deeply flawed immigration policy.
The senators— Jack Reed, Jeanne Shaheen, Gary Peters, Alex Padilla, and Angus King— visited the base on Friday (March 28) and found only around 85 migrants being held in facilities once used to house suspected al-Qaeda detainees.
Roughly 1,000 US government employees, mainly from the military, have been assigned to the operation.
Senators criticise costs, manpower wastage
Senator Reed, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, blamed the administration for “diverting troops from their primary missions” to Guantanamo. Referring to the $40 million estimated cost, he said, “All of that is extraordinarily expensive and unnecessary,” according to New York Times.
The Pentagon confirmed the cost of the operation had reached $39.3 million by mid-March. A single military flight transporting 13 Nicaraguan migrants to Guantánamo took place during the senators’ visit, followed by another Air Force cargo plane bringing 12 more migrants the next day.
Guantanamo remains an unusually costly site due to its remote location, surrounded by a Cuban minefield and reliant on shipments from Florida for basic supplies, energy and water. The senators said that while they do not fault the personnel on the ground, the overall mission reflects poorly on the administration’s priorities.
“This would be better both economically and also in terms of legal clarity if the military were not involved,” the senators said in a joint statement, calling the programme “unsustainably expensive” and lacking in transparency.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThey also raised concerns over the legal basis for the operation, which is governed by a confidential memorandum of understanding between the Departments of Defence and Homeland Security.
The administration has argued that Guantanamo is being used only for migrants linked to transnational criminal organisations, but it has not provided clear evidence to support that claim. Public records for some detainees show their only offences were repeated illegal entries into the US.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has since switched to less expensive charter flights, though no explanation has been given for the initial use of military aircraft.
A rushed, futile job?
Troops “were rushed to Guantanamo Bay without notice, leaving their critical day-to-day military missions behind in order to build tents that should never be filled and guard immigrants who should never be held there” the senators said.
The mission also appears to have borne few results in terms of deportation and detainment. Since the first 10 migrants were flown in on February 4, a total of 395 people have passed through Guantanamo. Of those, 177 Venezuelans were deported via Honduras on February 20, while most others were quietly returned to US-based facilities, often within days of arriving.
Despite mounting criticism and legal questions, the Department of Homeland Security has offered little public justification.
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