Civil rights attorneys sued the Trump administration Saturday to prevent it from transferring 10 migrants detained in the US to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, their second legal challenge in less than a month over plans for holding up to 30,000 immigrants there for deportation.
The latest federal lawsuit so far applies only to 10 men facing transfer to the naval base in Cuba. Like a lawsuit the same attorneys filed earlier this month for access to migrants already detained there, the latest case was filed in Washington and is backed by the American Civil Liberties Union.
At least 50 migrants have been transferred already to Guantanamo Bay, and the civil rights attorneys believe the number now may be about 200. They have said it is the first time in US history that the government has detained noncitizens on civil immigration charges there. For decades, the naval base was primarily used to detain foreigners associated with the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Trump has said Guantanamo Bay, also known as “Gitmo,” has space for up to 30,000 immigrants living in the US and that he plans to send “the worst” or high-risk “criminal aliens” there. The administration has not released specific information on who is being transferred, so it is not clear what crimes they are accused of committing in the US and whether they have been convicted in court, or merely charged or arrested.
The 10 men involved in the lawsuit came to the US in 2023 or 2024. Seven are from Venezuela, and the lawsuit said two had been tortured by the Venezuelan government for their political views. A man from Afghanistan and one from Pakistan came to the US, the lawsuit said, because of threats from the Taliban. One man fled Bangladesh because he was threatened over his political party membership, the lawsuit said.
“The purpose of this second Guantanamo lawsuit is to prevent more people from being illegally sent to this notorious prison, where the conditions have now been revealed to be inhumane,” said Lee Gelernt, an ACLU attorney and lead counsel on the case. “The lawsuit is not claiming they cannot be detained in US facilities, but only that they cannot be sent to Guantanamo.”
The White House and the Defense and Homeland Security departments did not immediately respond to emails Saturday seeking comment about the lawsuit. The two agencies, Secretaries Pete Hegseth and Kristi Noem, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and its acting director are the defendants.
In a Jan. 29 executive order expanding operations at Guantanamo Bay, Trump said that one of his goals is to “dismantle criminal cartels.” But the men’s attorneys said none of them have gang affiliations, and the lawsuit said four of them were falsely identified as gang members based on their tattoos, including one of a Catholic rosary.
Transfer to Guantanamo violates constitutional right, attorneys say
Their attorneys described their latest lawsuit as an emergency filing to halt imminent transfers and challenge the Trump administration’s plans. They contend that the transfers violate the men’s right to due legal process, guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution
The latest lawsuit also argues that federal immigration law bars the transfer of non-Cuban migrants from the US to Guantanamo Bay and that the US government has no authority to hold people outside its territory, and the naval base remains part of Cuba legally. The transfers are also described as arbitrary.
In addition, the lawsuit argues that Guantanamo Bay “does not have the infrastructure” to hold even the 10 men.
“The reason for doing so is solely to try to instill fear in the immigrant population,” the lawsuit said.
The men’s attorneys allege that many of the people who have been sent to Guantanamo Bay do not have serious criminal records or even any criminal history. Their first lawsuit, filed Feb. 12, said migrants sent to the naval base had “effectively disappeared into a black box” and couldn’t contact attorneys or family. The Department of Homeland Security said they could reach attorneys by phone.
In another, separate federal lawsuit filed in New Mexico, a federal judge on Feb. 9 blocked the transfer of three immigrants from Venezuela being held in that state to Guantanamo Bay. Their attorneys said they had been falsely accused of being gang members.
Guantanamo ‘perfect place’ to house migrants, secretary of defense says
The migrant detention center at Guantanamo operates separately from the US military’s detention center and courtrooms for foreigners detained under President George W. Bush during what Bush called its war on terror. It once held nearly 800 people, but the number has dwindled to 15, including 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
Hegseth, who was assigned to Guantanamo when he was on active duty, has called it a “perfect place” to house migrants. Trump has described the naval base as “a tough place to get out of.”
A United Nations investigator who visited the military detention center in 2023 said conditions had improved, but military detainees still faced near constant surveillance, forced removal from their cells and unjust use of restraints, resulting in “ongoing cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment under international law.” The US said it disagreed “in significant respects” with her report.