Civil Rights Groups Sue Trump Admin for Information on Detention of Immigrants at Guantánamo

Civil rights groups today filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit seeking information on the Trump Administration’s detention of immigrants at the U.S. Naval Base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The move comes after the administration sent approximately 500 noncitizens to Guantánamo without due process and amid reports that it plans to detain thousands more there. Despite attempting to expand this notorious prison camp – associated at its core with torture and lawlessness – the administration is continuing to operate in secrecy about who they are sending there and why, as well as the likely terrible conditions for individuals detained there.

“We know from over 30 years of challenging unlawful detentions in Guantánamo, that the government has always attempted to shield its operations there from the law and public scrutiny, which has produced a legacy of torture, suffering, and systemic human rights violations,” said Ayla Kadah, Staff Attorney and Justice Fellow at the Center for Constitutional Rights. “That the Trump administration is openly embracing this very symbol of lawlessness and brutality – while refusing to provide any information about conditions or their legal authority – leads us to fear the worst of Guantánamo is happening again. We will continue our decades-long fight for accountability and to finally shutter this dark island prison.”

On January 29th, Trump issued an executive order to expand to “full capacity” the Guantánamo Migrant Operations Center (GMOC), a detention facility located on the naval base along with the infamous island prison where, in the name of fighting terrorism, the Bush administration detained and tortured hundreds of Muslim men and boys after 9/11. The Trump administration has denied immigrants at Guantánamo meaningful access to attorneys and the ability to challenge their detention. Those who have been detained there report brutal conditions: solitary confinement in windowless cells for at least 23 hours a day, invasive strip searches, extreme temperatures, a lack of food and medical care, and long hours in a “punishment chair,” all of which have led to several suicide attempts.

Brought by the Haitian Bridge Alliance, Detention Watch Network, and the Center for Constitutional Rights, the suit follows the administration’s failure to comply with the groups’ February FOIA request. The suit seeks information on, among other subjects, the claimed legal basis for detaining immigrants at Guantánamo, the criteria for sending them there, their identities, whether they face interrogation and, if so, by whom and for what purpose, which agency or agencies have custody over them, and the roles of each agency – whether, for example, the Defense Department is involved in civilian law enforcement.

Said Setareh Ghandehari, Advocacy Director of Detention Watch Network, “Guantánamo Bay’s abusive history speaks for itself. The Trump administration’s plans to massively expand ICE detention at Guantánamo jeopardizes the mental and physical health of immigrants, separates families, and upends communities across the United States.The intentional withholding of information about these plans, paired with ICE’s culture of secrecy, is yet another hallmark of an authoritarian regime. The result of Trump's cruel mass detention and deportation agenda so far is an exacerbation of inhumane conditions in ICE detention, with increasing reports of death, medical neglect, overcrowding, lack of food, and rampant transfers that cut people off from their loved ones and support networks. Detention in remote locations, like Guantánamo, amplifies these harms. Communities across the country are watching daily as their family members, friends, coworkers, and neighbors are being violently targeted and disappeared by ICE. Transparency into Trump's plans at Guantánamo is critical for oversight and accountability.”

Historically, the U.S. government has detained people at Guantánamo to try to evade the law, and, after 9/11, it became a site and symbol of torture and other human rights abuses. But litigation by the Center of Constitutional Rights yielded a 2008 Supreme Court ruling that people held at Guantanamo have the constitutional right to challenge their detention. At the same time, sporadic efforts by the Bush, Obama, and Biden administrations, spurred by years of political and legal advocacy, had reduced the population of the “war on terror” prison to only 15. The Trump administration is breaking with these trends, detaining a large number of people at Guantánamo while denying them basic legal and human rights. This also marks the first time that the government has transferred people there from the territorial United States.

“The U.S. government has used Guantánamo as a key piece in its prevention through deterrence migration strategy for decades,” said Erik Crew, Staff Attorney with Haitian Bridge Alliance, “where the goal is to punish certain migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers who attempt to seek internationally-mandated humanitarian protection in the United States. Detention at Guantánamo is valuable to the U.S. government because it continues to use it as a legal black hole where rights don’t apply. Civil society organizations like HBA and our partners will continue to fight against this lawlessness in U.S. and international human rights fora. We, the people of the U.S. and the people of the world, need transparency here, and we will fight for it.”

The suit seeks all relevant records from the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, the Department of State, and Citizenship and Immigration Services.