Wed Jan 29 20:23:09 UTC 2025: ## Trump Announces Plan to House Migrants at Guantanamo Bay

**Washington D.C.** – In a surprise move, President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he plans to utilize the Guantanamo Bay military prison to detain undocumented immigrants convicted of violent crimes and theft. This announcement came as he signed the “Laken Riley Act,” a bill allowing for the pre-trial detention of such migrants, named after a US nursing student murdered by a Venezuelan immigrant.

Trump stated that he has issued an executive order directing the Pentagon and Homeland Security to prepare the Guantanamo facility to house up to 30,000 migrants. He described the facility as a “tough place to get out of,” emphasizing its capacity to hold individuals deemed too dangerous for other detention facilities. The President claimed the move would significantly increase the nation’s capacity to detain undocumented immigrants, aligning with his previously stated commitment to a large-scale crackdown on illegal immigration.

The announcement overshadowed the signing of the Laken Riley Act, which was passed by Congress just days after Trump’s inauguration. The act is named after Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student murdered in 2024 by Jose Antonio Ibarra, a Venezuelan national without legal documentation. Trump hosted Riley’s parents at the White House ceremony.

However, the plan to house migrants at Guantanamo Bay has sparked immediate outrage from human rights groups. The facility, notorious for its history of alleged human rights abuses and indefinite detention without trial, has been the subject of extensive criticism both domestically and internationally. Previous administrations pledged to close Guantanamo, but the prison remains open. While the US government has used parts of the base for migrant detention for decades, this marks a significant escalation in its use for this purpose. The international community is expected to strongly condemn this move, given Guantanamo’s well-documented history of human rights violations.

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