First military flight lands in Guantanamo Bay with migrants deported from the U.S.

President Trump eyes Guantanamo Bay as migrant holding center; Amnesty International condemns move, U.S. deports Indian immigrants.

The first U.S. military flight deporting migrants from the United States to Guantanamo Bay landed in Cuba on Tuesday (February 4, 2025) evening, according to a U.S. official. It was the first step in an expected surge in the number of migrants sent to the U.S. naval base, which for decades was primarily used to detain foreigners associated with the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

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

Defense 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 U.S. troops have arrived at the facility in the past few days to help prepare.

Amy Fischer, director of the Refugee and Migrant Rights Program at Amnesty International USA, decried the use of Guantanamo.

“Sending immigrants to Guantanamo is a profoundly cruel, costly move. It will cut people off from lawyers, family and support systems, throwing them into a black hole so the U.S. government can continue to violate their human rights out of sight. Shut Gitmo down now and forever!" Mr. Fischer said in a statement.

In addition, the U.S. flew Indian immigrants back to India on Monday, a second U.S. official said. Both officials 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, Colombian officials flew to the U.S. and took two flights of migrants back to their country.