Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs Attorneys filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration Saturday to halt the transfer of 10 migrants detained in the U.S. to Guantánamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba.This marks their second legal challenge in under a month against plans to use the facility for large-scale immigrant detention before deportation.Why It MattersIn a memorandum released in January, President Donald Trump outlined a plan to detain up to 30,000 immigrants suspected of being in the U.S. illegally at Guantánamo Bay as part of his immigration crackdown.Trump was elected president after promising the largest mass deportation operation in the U.S. history. Guantánamo Bay is widely recognized for its military prison, established after the September 11, 2001, attacks.
President Donald Trump takes a question from a reporter during a news conference in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on January 21, 2025 in Washington, D.C.
President Donald Trump takes a question from a reporter during a news conference in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on January 21, 2025 in Washington, D.C.
Andrew Harnik/Getty
What To KnowThe American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Center for Constitutional Rights, the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), and the ACLU of the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit on behalf of migrants who face the risk of being transferred to Guantánamo Bay.The latest lawsuit argues that the transfers violate the men’s right to due process, as guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.It also claims that federal immigration law prohibits the transfer of non-Cuban migrants from the U.S. to Guantánamo Bay, that the U.S. government lacks authority to detain individuals outside its territory, and that the naval base is legally part of Cuba. The lawsuit further describes the transfers as arbitrary.The federal lawsuit was filed less than a month after the same attorneys sued for access to migrants already detained at the U.S. naval base in Cuba after living in the country illegally. Both cases, backed by the American Civil Liberties Union, were filed in Washington.The attorneys also submitted translated statements from Spanish into English from two men still detained at Guantánamo Bay, four men held there in February before being returned to Venezuela, and a Venezuelan migrant sent back to Texas. The men described being confined in small, windowless cells with lights kept on 24/7, making sleep difficult.They also reported inadequate food and medical care. One man stated he attempted tried to take his own life, while two others said they were aware of similar attempts by others. Additionally, the men alleged verbal and physical abuse by staff.”It was easy to lose the will to live,” said Raul David Garcia, a former Guantánamo detainee sent back to Venezuela told The Associated Press. “I had been kidnapped in Mexico before, and at least my captors there told me their names.”In a separate federal lawsuit filed in New Mexico, a federal court prevented the Trump administration from transferring three Venezuelan men to Guantánamo Bay, according to the immigrants’ lawyer.Trump has said that only high-risk “criminal aliens” and suspected gang members will be imprisoned at the base. However, the administration has not released specific information on who is being transferred, so it is not clear what crimes they are accused of in the U.S. and whether they have been convicted in court, or merely charged or arrested.Meanwhile, CBS News reported that the administration is sending nonviolent, “low risk” migrants to the notorious facility.At least 50 migrants have already been transferred to Guantánamo Bay, and civil rights attorneys estimate the number could be as high as 200.They claim this marks the first time in U.S. history that the government has detained noncitizens there on civil immigration charges. For decades, the naval base was primarily used to hold foreigners linked to the September 11, 2001, attacks.Critics have said for years that the center is notorious for poor conditions. A 2023 report from a United Nations inspector said detainees faced “ongoing cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment,” though the U.S. rejected much of her criticism.Immigrant advocates described the prison as “a site of lawlessness and brutality.”What People Are SayingBaher Azmy, Legal Director at the Center for Constitutional Rights told Newsweek: “We filed this emergency action to prevent 10 individuals detained inside the territorial United States, to prevent their transfer to Guantánamo. In our constitutional system, the president does not have the legal authority to render individuals to detention outside the United States, particularly to the notorious island prison of Guantánamo, a site of lawlessness and brutality. The courts must stop these illegal transfers which serve no purpose other than performative cruelty on these vulnerable individuals.”Lee Gelernt, lead counsel and deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project said in a statement: “Sending immigrants to a remote abusive prison is not only illegal and unprecedented, but illogical given the additional cost and logistic complications. Ultimately this is about theatrics.”Eunice Cho, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s National Prison Project said in a press release: “Never before has the federal government moved immigrants held in the United States on civil immigration charges to Guantánamo. People are suffering under this new order and the Trump administration’s lawless actions will not go unchallenged.”President Donald Trump, on January 29: “We have 30,000 beds in Guantánamo to detain the worst criminal illegal aliens threatening the American people. Some people are so bad, we don’t even trust the countries to hold them because we don’t want them coming back, so we’re going to send them out to Guantánamo.”Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, speaking to reporters: “It’s the perfect place to provide for migrants who are traveling out of our country through gray tails or other assets, but also hardened criminals. Where are you going to put Tren de Aragua before you send them all the way back? How about a maximum-security prison at Guantánamo Bay, where we have the space.”What Happens NextImmigration advocates and civil rights groups, including the Center for Constitutional Rights and the ACLU, are expected to continue legal efforts to prevent migrants from being sent to Guantánamo Bay due to humanitarian concerns over mistreatment.This article contains reporting from The Associated Press.
