The United States has sent the first flight with detained migrants in its territory to a detention center at Guantanamo Military Base, Cuba. This was confirmed by White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt. This action is part of the new immigration strategy of President Donald Trump, who has strengthened his immigration policy since taking office.
In his early weeks in office, Trump has reiterated his stance against more than 11 million undocumented migrants in the U.S., labeling them as "criminals" and promising the largest mass deportation in the country's history. Despite the arrests that have taken place since January 2025, exceeding 3,000 people, it has not reached the scale of the announced mass operation.
As part of this immigration strategy, the president has ordered an expansion of detention capacity in Guantanamo to accommodate up to 30,000 migrants. Additionally, the deployment of more than 150 military personnel, including Marines and South Command personnel responsible for operations in Latin America, has been announced to support this measure.
By signing the memorandum that expands the detention center in Guantanamo, Trump justified the measure as an attempt to stop the "worst illegal criminal migrants who pose a threat to the American people." Despite this, academic studies have debunked the association between immigration and crime, concluding that migrants are less likely to commit crimes than U.S.-born individuals. Living undocumented is not a criminal offense but a civil violation, refuting the association made by Trump's administration.
The decision to send migrants to Guantanamo, a place historically linked to the detention of terrorism suspects, has sparked a debate over human rights and immigration policy in the U.S. While the Trump administration continues its deportation strategy, human rights organizations and Democratic lawmakers have expressed their opposition to these measures, arguing that they criminalize people seeking better life opportunities and whose only "crime" is the search for a more prosperous future.
