Pentagon: 10 ‘High-Threat’ Criminal Illegal Immigrants Sent to Guantanamo

The first flight carrying criminal illegal immigrants to Guantanamo Bay prepares to depart, in El Paso, Texas, on Feb. 4, 2025. Department of Homeland Security

The Pentagon confirmed on Wednesday that the first military flight carrying illegal immigrants to the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba is complete, with 10 “high-threat” individuals now housed there.

The Department of Defense (DOD) said in a Feb. 5 announcement that the 10 illegal immigrants are being held at vacant detention facilities, clarifying that the move is a “temporary measure” until they can be deported to “their country of origin or other appropriate destination.”

“The Department of Defense is working closely with the Department of Homeland Security to protect the American people and upholding national security interests,” the DOD said in a statement.

The transfer follows a directive from President Donald Trump instructing the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to expand the Naval Station Guantanamo Bay detention center to house criminal illegal aliens considered national security risks.

“President Donald Trump has been very clear: Guantanamo Bay will hold the worst of the worst,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement on social media platform X on Tuesday. “That starts today.”

U.S. Transportation Command confirmed in a social media post that the C-17 aircraft transporting the illegal immigrants from El Paso, Texas, landed at Guantanamo at 7:20 p.m. on Feb. 4.

All of the transported illegal immigrants are members of the Tren de Aragua crime gang, DHS said.

Tren de Aragua, which began as a Venezuelan prison gang, has evolved into a sophisticated criminal enterprise that engages in human smuggling and other illegal operations, according to the Treasury Department, which says the group poses a “deadly criminal threat.”

“For example, Tren de Aragua leverages its transnational networks to traffic people, especially migrant women and girls, across borders for sex trafficking and debt bondage,” Treasury said.

“When victims seek to escape this exploitation, Tren de Aragua members often kill them and publicize their deaths as a threat to others.”

Trump first proposed using Guantanamo Bay to house illegal immigrants during a Jan. 27 speech at his Doral golf club, suggesting it would be cheaper than detaining them in U.S. prisons. His directive called on Noem and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to prepare Guantanamo Bay to house up to 30,000 illegal immigrants.

Noem said in a post on X on Wednesday that DHS enforcement officers have arrested thousands of dangerous criminal illegal immigrants.

“Arrests in just the last few days include convicted murders, rapists, child abusers, drug traffickers, MS-13 gang members, cartel members,” Noem said. “Under President Trump, America is no longer a safe haven for violent criminals.”

The Guantanamo Bay military prison was created in 2002 under President George W. Bush to detain foreign suspects linked to terrorism after the 9/11 attacks in September 2001.

Trump’s decision to use Guantanamo Bay as part of his broader immigration enforcement effort aligns with his push to strengthen border security and deport illegal immigrants.

Some of Trump’s actions include declaring a national emergency at the southern border and ordering federal agencies to take immediate steps to repel, repatriate, and remove illegal immigrants attempting to cross the border.

Trump also issued an executive order on Jan. 20 suspending the current U.S. Refugee Admissions Program until reforms are made to ensure that further arrivals align “with the interests of the United States.”

U.S. Transportation Command has started providing regular updates on military deportation flights of illegal immigrants, including one to Guatemala on Feb. 4 and another to India on Feb. 5.