Trump orders 30,000-person migrant detention facility at Guantanamo Bay

President Donald Trump has announced plans to establish a new detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, capable of holding 30,000 undocumented migrants.

Speaking at the White House, Trump said the move—set to be implemented via Executive Order—would double the government’s capacity for detaining undocumented individuals and help combat what he called the “scourge of migrant crime.”

“The Pentagon will oversee the facility’s establishment,” he added.

Guantanamo Bay has previously housed migrants under the Guantánamo Migrant Operations Center (GMOC), used by past U.S. administrations for similar purposes.

Trump’s remark came just before he signed the Laken Riley Act on Wednesday, marking his first major legislative victory of his second term.

The law mandates the detention of undocumented migrants charged with specific crimes and was passed earlier this month with Democratic support.

“Today’s signings bring us one step closer to eradicating the scourge of migrant crime in our communities once and for all,” Trump declared before signing the bill.

However, CNN reports that the president did not provide further details on his planned executive order to establish a 30,000-person migrant detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, nor did he specify when it would be signed.

While Guantanamo is primarily known for its detention center housing terrorism suspects, it also hosts a migrant-processing facility.

The Biden administration previously considered using it for Haitian migrants fleeing their country’s deteriorating conditions, and the U.S. military prepared the site for displaced persons after Haiti’s 2010 earthquake.

A U.S. official, speaking to CNN, cast doubt on the feasibility of Trump’s plan, noting that Guantanamo’s current infrastructure cannot accommodate 30,000 detainees.

“There’s no way there are 30,000 beds anymore,” the official said, explaining that such capacity existed in the 1990s but no longer. To handle that number, the U.S. would need to deploy significant military resources to the base.

“If they sent a large number of migrants to Guantanamo Bay, they would need far more staff to manage them,” the official added. “They couldn’t do it with what they’ve got now—no way.”