First US military flight to send migrants to Guantanamo Bay set to depart, official says

It is the first step in what is expected to be a surge in the number of migrants held at Navy base in Cuba, which for decades was used to detain foreigners associated with the Sept 11, 2001, attacks

Washington: The first US military flight to deport migrants from the United States to Guantanamo Bay was set to depart on Tuesday, a US official said.

It is the first step in what is expected to be a surge in the number of migrants held at the Navy base in Cuba, which for decades was primarily used to detain foreigners associated with the Sept 11, 2001, attacks.

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President Donald Trump has eyed the facility as a holding centre and said it has the capacity to hold as many as 30,000.

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, who was assigned to Guantanamo Bay when he was on active duty, has called it a “perfect place” to house migrants. Additional US troops have arrived at the facility in the past few days to help prepare the site.

In addition, the US flew Indian migrants back to India on Monday and that flight was still in progress as of midday Tuesday, the US official said. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide details not yet made public.

There had previously been seven deportation flights, to Ecuador, Guam, Honduras and Peru. In addition, Columbian officials flew to the US and took two flights of migrants back to their country.