Civil rights lawyers sued the Trump administration on Saturday to prevent 10 immigrants detained in the US from being detained in Cuba’s Guantanamo Bay.
So far, the latest federal lawsuits apply only to 10 men facing transfers to a Cuban naval base. Like the lawsuit, the same lawyer filed earlier this month for access to immigrants already in custody there, the latest case was filed in Washington and supported by the American Civil Liberties Union.
Read more: Trump wants to retain up to 30,000 detained immigrants in Guantanamo Bay. Here’s what you need to know
At least 50 immigrants have already been transferred to Guantanamo Bay, and civil rights lawyers now believe the number could be around 200. They said it was the first time in US history that the government had detained a non-citizen in relation to accusations of citizen immigration there. For decades, naval bases were primarily used to detain foreigners related to the September 11, 2001 attack.
Trump says Guantanamo Bay, also known as “Gitomo,” has space for up to 30,000 immigrants living in the US, where he plans to send “worst” or high-risk “criminals” there. The administration has not made any specific information about who has been transferred, so it is not clear whether it is a crime accused of committing it in the United States, whether it was found guilty in court or simply charged or arrested.
Ten men involved in the lawsuit came to the United States in 2023 or 2024. Seven are from Venezuela, and the lawsuit states that two were tortured for political views by the Venezuelan government. The Afghanistan and Pakistani man said they came to the US because of threats from the Taliban. According to the lawsuit, one man fled Bangladesh as he was threatened by political party membership.
“The purpose of this second Guantanamo lawsuit is to prevent more people from being illegally sent to this infamous prison. This condition is now apparently inhumane.” “The lawsuit is not arguing that it cannot be detained in a US facility, it is simply that it cannot be sent to Guantanamo.”
The White House and the Defense and Homeland Security divisions did not immediately respond to emails on Saturday seeking comment on the lawsuit. Two agencies, secretaries, Pete Hegses and Christa Noem, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, and its representative directors, are the defendants.
In the January 29 executive order, Trump said one of his goals was to “dismantle the detective cartel.” However, the male lawyer said none of them have a gang affiliation, and the lawsuit stated that four people were misidentified as gang members based on tattoos that included one of the Catholic rosaries.
The move to Guantanamo violates constitutional rights, lawyers say
Their lawyers described their latest case as an emergency to halt the imminent transfer and challenge the Trump administration’s plans. They argue that the transfer violates the rights of men to legitimate legal proceedings guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution.
The latest lawsuit bans the transfer of non-Cuban immigrants from the United States to Guantanamo Bay, claiming that the US government has no authority to keep people outside its territory and that naval bases remain part of Cuba. Forwarding is also described as optional.
Furthermore, the lawsuit alleges that Guantanamo Bay “has no infrastructure.”
“The only reason to do so is to instill fear in the immigrant population,” the lawsuit said.
The male lawyers argue that many of those sent to Guantanamo Bay do not have serious or even criminal records. Their first lawsuit, filed on February 12, said the migrants sent to the naval base “effectively disappeared into the black box” and that they were unable to contact lawyers or their families. The Department of Homeland Security said it could contact lawyers by phone.
Another federal lawsuit filed in New Mexico on February 9, a federal judge blocked the relocation of immigrants from Venezuela to Guantanamo Bay in that state. Their lawyers said they were falsely accused of being a gang member.
Guantanamo “the perfect place” to house immigrants, the Secretary of Defense says
The Guantanamo immigration detention center operates separately from US military detention centers and courtrooms for foreigners detained under President Bush. The number once accounted for nearly 800, but the number, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind on 9/11, has dropped to 15.
Hegses, assigned to Guantanamo when he was active, calls it the “perfect place” to house immigrants. Trump describes naval bases as “a place that is difficult to leave.”
UN investigators visiting the military detention centre in 2023 said conditions had improved, but military detainees still faced constant surveillance, forcing removal from cells, resulting in the unfair use of detention, and “continued, inhumane, degrading treatment under international law.” The US said it opposed her report “in a considerable respect.”
