Senate Democrats: Detaining migrants at Guantánamo Bay a threat to civil rights, military readiness

Sen. Jon Ossoff (Ga.) led a group of Democratic senators in writing a letter Friday to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth against the mass detention of migrants at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, saying it poses a threat to civil rights and military readiness.

The lawmakers highlighted past reports of mistreatment of detainees in facilities operated by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), expressing concerns over the treatment of migrants imprisoned at Guantánamo Bay.

Democratic Sens. Chris Coons (Del.), Brian Schatz (Hawaii) and Chris Van Hollen (Md.) also signed the letter.

“We oppose placing U.S. military and DoD civilian personnel in the legally and morally tenuous position of conducting mass migrant detention operations. Our men and women in uniform are warfighters, not jailers of migrants," the group wrote, referring to the Department of Defense (DOD).

“The dramatically expanded use of U.S. military personnel and facilities to support mass detention operations overseas will divert DoD personnel and resources from its core warfighting mission," the letter added.

According to a statement by Ossoff, he led an 18-month bipartisan investigation in 2022 that revealed women detainees in Georgia "were subjected by a DHS-contracted doctor to excessive, invasive, and often unnecessary gynecological surgeries and procedures."

“Given widespread and well-documented abuse of detainees in DHS and DHS-contracted facilities in the United States, we lack confidence that DHS political leadership has the will or capacity to conduct such detention operations at NS Guantánamo Bay humanely,” the senators said.

The group sought specific information about Department of Defense operations at Guantánamo Bay, including the cost; how many DOD personnel will be diverted to provide security, or support for the operation; and which military units are involved.

On Monday, another group of five Senate Democrats led by Sen. Dick Durbin (Ill.) sent a similar letter to President Trump challenging his transfer of migrants to detention centers in Guantánamo Bay.

They called the move “unprecedented, unlawful, and harmful to American national security, values and interests.”

Last month, Trump signed a memo ordering the DOD and Department of Homeland Security to prepare a 30,000-person migrant facility at Guantánamo Bay, saying it would be used “to detain the worst criminal illegal aliens threatening the American people.”

Guantánamo Bay has housed military prisoners, including several involved in the 9/11 attacks. The U.S. military prison is notorious for several accusations of torture and abuse during the war on terror.

The Biden administration sought to wind down operations there, but the Trump administration is reversing that policy.

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