CUBAN HELLHOLE
Inside notorious Guantanamo Bay prison housing 9/11 terror suspects where Trump is sending 30,000 of ‘worst’ immigrants
The prison complex, located on Cuban soil but under US control, is a fortress of isolation
A HELLISH prison notorious for holding some of the world's most dangerous terrorists is now set to house thousands of illegal immigrants as part of Trump's vast crackdown.
The US president confirmed plans to detain up to 30,000 "criminal illegal aliens" at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, calling it a "tough place to get out of".
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Trump's announcement came moments before signing the Laken Riley Act, his first law since returning to the White House.
It mandates the detention of undocumented migrants accused of theft or violent crimes.
“We have 30,000 beds in Guantanamo to detain the worst criminal illegal aliens threatening the American people,” Trump declared.
“Some of them are so bad we don’t even trust the countries to hold them, because we don’t want them coming back.”
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HELL ON EARTH
Guantanamo Bay has long been synonymous with human rights abuses, indefinite detention, and controversial interrogation techniques.
First opened in 2002 by George W. Bush in the wake of 9/11, the high-security facility became a legal black hole.
There, suspects could be held without trial, subjected to brutal conditions, and interrogated using “enhanced techniques”—a euphemism for torture.
The prison complex, located on Cuban soil but under US control, is a fortress of isolation.
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Guard towers loom over the razor-wire fences, motion-activated searchlights sweep the perimeter, and cameras monitor every inch of the facility.
Inside, detainees — most clad in orange jumpsuits — have spent decades in concrete cells measuring just 6.8 square feet, often with nothing but a thin mattress, a metal toilet, and a small slit for daylight.
Trump to send 30,000 criminal illegal immigrants to Guantanamo Bay as he taunts 'it’s a tough place to get out'
Prisoners have been force-fed through nasal tubes during hunger strikes, shackled in stress positions for hours, and subjected to psychological torment.
Detainees once endured sleep deprivation, waterboarding, and extreme temperature exposure as part of the CIA’s “enhanced interrogation” program.
One of the most infamous detainees, Abu Zubaydah, was waterboarded 83 times and kept in a coffin-sized box for hours on end.
While the camp once held nearly 800 suspected terrorists, that number has dwindled to just 15, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 terror attacks.
The last remaining detainees exist in a legal limbo, held indefinitely as the US struggles to either prosecute, transfer, or release them.
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Prisoners are separated into camps based on their perceived threat level.
The most notorious detainees are housed in Camp 5 and Camp 7, which are maximum-security units where prisoners are kept in near-total isolation.
Others are held in Camp 6, where detainees live communally but are still closely monitored.
Camp X-Ray, the original makeshift site of the prison, was shuttered years ago, but its haunting images of hooded detainees kneeling behind barbed wire remain a symbol of Guantanamo’s dark legacy.
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The prison has cost US taxpayers over $6 billion to operate, with an annual budget of $540 million — roughly $13 million per prisoner.
A dedicated medical wing, staffed by doctors, psychiatrists, and even dentists, exists to prevent detainees from dying in custody, ensuring they remain locked away indefinitely.
Trump’s move marks a stunning reversal from Joe Biden’s efforts to shut down Guantanamo, which saw the release of several detainees and plea deals for those awaiting trial.
Now, instead of winding down, Guantanamo is set to expand — from housing some of the world’s most dangerous terrorists to thousands of undocumented migrants swept up in Trump’s crackdown.
‘NO ESCAPE’ FOR MIGRANTS
Trump’s administration insists the immigration detention camp will be separate from the terrorist facility, but details remain murky.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the White House is already working to expand Guantanamo’s detention capacity, including re-purposing a golf course on the base to create 6,000 additional beds.
“We’re already doing it,” Noem said. “We’re building it out.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth defended the decision, calling Guantanamo “the perfect place” for illegal migrants who cannot be deported.
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"Better they be held at a safe location, like Guantanamo Bay, which is meant and built for migrants, meant and built to sustain that away from the American people,” Hegseth told Fox News.
The Pentagon has also confirmed plans to detain migrants at Buckley Space Force Base in Colorado, though Guantanamo remains the primary site.
Trump’s move has sparked outrage from Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, who slammed it as “an act of brutality” on land he insists is “illegally occupied” by the US.
Díaz-Canel described Guantanamo as “a place of torture and illegal detention”, adding that sending migrants there violates international human rights laws.
The US has leased 45 square miles of Cuban territory at Guantanamo Bay since 1903, but Cuba has repeatedly demanded its return.
LEGAL CHALLENGES
It remains unclear whether Trump’s plan will face legal roadblocks.
While Guantanamo is under US military jurisdiction, previous court rulings on detainee rights could complicate efforts to indefinitely hold migrants there.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has already vowed to challenge the move, calling it “mass internment”.
“This is unlawful, inhumane, and a clear violation of US and international law,” the ACLU said in a statement.
“Guantanamo Bay has been a stain on America’s human rights record for over two decades. Expanding it to hold thousands of migrants is unthinkable.”
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Despite the controversy, Trump is moving full speed ahead.
His administration argues the plan “doubles detention capacity immediately” and takes the country “one step closer to eradicating the scourge of migrant crime”.
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