All Migrants at Guantanamo Sent Back to US

A group of 40 migrants taken to Guantánamo Bay in recent weeks was returned to the US on Tuesday, marking the second time the Trump administration has brought people to the US military base only to remove them a short time later—"a costly and time-consuming exercise," per the New York Times. On Feb. 20, after paying up to $27,000 to fly individual detainees to the base, the administration repatriated 177 Venezuelans to their government, which had claimed they were "unjustly taken" to Guantánamo. Since March 2, nearly 100 more migrants have been flown from Guantánamo to an international airport in Alexandria, Louisiana, the Times reports.

As of Friday, at least 290 migrants from 27 countries had been cycled through the base. There were 23 migrants remaining in Camp 6, and another 17 in the Migrant Operations Center, a dormitory-style building on the other side of the base, per the Times and Washington Post. However, all were flown to Louisiana on non-military aircraft over the last two days, reports ABC News. President Trump ordered a 30,000-person migrant facility be constructed at the base. Almost 200 tents able to hold about 500 migrants were erected, but they lacked air conditioning and other amenities required by ICE, per ABC. There are now indications the base will be used in a reduced capacity.

The 1,000-worker operation has cost a reported $16 million so far, and the Trump administration has not offered a detailed explanation for it, even as immigration law experts question the legal basis for transferring migrants to Cuba without its consent. The Justice Department argues the operation is lawful under the Immigration and Naturalization Act, which allows the government to detain people in a government facility. Trump suggested Guantánamo would be used to hold dangerous detainees, including members of the Tren de Aragua gang. But the administration presented no evidence of gang activity for the 177 Venezuelans. Most had no criminal records in the US, per the Times. (More Guantanamo Bay stories.)