In response to surging migration, President Trump proposed sending up to 30,000 migrants to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a plan met with skepticism due to high costs, limited capacity, and complex logistics. As of June 2025, about 500 migrants have been transferred to Guantanamo, which can only accommodate about 200 individuals at a time. Though hundreds of tents were set up to house migrants, none have been utilized. The Trump administration has defended this move, describing Guantanamo as a temporary holding site for migrants awaiting deportation.
Financial and legal concerns have intensified scrutiny of the program. In just the first two months, the U.S. spent more than $40 million on the operation, not including the cost of transportation. Charter flights alone can cost up to $27,000 per hour. The average daily cost of detaining one migrant at Guantanamo is about $100,000, in stark contrast to the $165 daily cost in typical ICE detention centers. The ACLU has filed a lawsuit, accusing the government of using Guantanamo as a scare tactic to pressure migrants into self-deporting. Additionally, Democratic senators have demanded transparency in spending. However, the government has failed to clarify why certain migrants are being sent to Guantanamo for just a few days, only to return them to the U.S. It has also not addressed why some migrants are first sent to Guantanamo and then deported to a third country, rather than being sent directly to their final destination.
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Reference:
Pfeiffer, Sascha. " Trump said he'd send 30,000 migrants to Guantánamo. He's sent about 500." NPR, 23 June 2025, https://www.npr.org/2025/06/23/nx-s1-5436898/trump-guantanamo-gitmo-migrants.
