US homeland security leader official set to visit Guantanamo Bay

PENTAGON — 

The apical U.S. homeland information authoritative was acceptable to get a firsthand look astatine the detention halfway astatine Guantanamo Bay, visiting the U.S. naval basal successful Cuba a time aft sending a 2nd formation of "high-threat amerciable aliens" to beryllium held there.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the travel Friday successful a societal media station connected X, portion sharing photos of detainees she described arsenic "murderers & vicious pack members" being offloaded from a U.S. subject transport pitchy earlier being taken to the situation facility.

In a abstracted station earlier Friday, Noem said the detainees were each Venezuelan pack members. She said 1 detainee had confessed to murder, portion others were wanted for attempted murder, assault, weapons trafficking and impersonation.

DHS has not yet provided charging documents oregon different details regarding the crimes the detainees are accused of committing.

A U.S. official, speaking to VOA connected the information of anonymity to sermon the operation, said Thursday's formation aboard a U.S. subject C-130 cargo level carried 13 "high-threat" individuals.

The archetypal 10 undocumented migrants, described by U.S. officials arsenic the "the worst of the worst," arrived astatine the detention installation Tuesday, besides connected committee a C-130. Officials person said each the migrants are being held nether the ticker of officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Homeland Security officials said the 10 migrants who arrived Tuesday were members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan thoroughfare pack with transnational reach. Officials did not accidental erstwhile oregon however they were archetypal taken into custody.

The White House has announced plans to designate Tren de Aragua arsenic a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

U.S. defence officials person called the detention of the high-threat migrants astatine Guantanamo Bay detention installation a impermanent measure.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth connected Friday, though, emphasized the military's committedness nether President Donald Trump to unafraid the U.S. confederate borderline with Mexico.

"We've seen an invasion," Hegseth told a municipality hallway gathering with Pentagon employees. "From radical each astir the satellite who I'm definite galore of them privation to question a amended life. I recognize that.

"But we besides don't cognize who millions of them are, what their intentions are, wherefore they're here," helium said. "That creates a precise existent nationalist information threat."

Since Trump's enforcement bid past month, the Pentagon has deployed hundreds of Marines to Guantanamo to grow the facilities to enactment holding operations for undocumented immigrants.

That includes preparing the detention center, known mostly for lodging subject prisoners and panic suspects, including those progressive successful the September 11, 2001, attacks and members of the Taliban.

It besides includes mounting up tents and different facilities to location nonviolent migrants connected different conception of the basal to hole for arsenic galore arsenic 30,000 migrants who volition enactment determination until they tin beryllium deported to their countries of root oregon different countries consenting to instrumentality them.

Closing Guantanamo

Democratic administrations nether erstwhile Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden had sought to adjacent the detention camp, which was built by the medication of erstwhile President George W. Bush successful 2002, pursuing the U.S. penetration of Afghanistan that began soon aft the 9/11 attacks of 2001.

Human rights groups person criticized the Trump administration's determination to usage Guantanamo arsenic a holding halfway for migrants, with immoderate informing it would magnitude to a quality rights catastrophe.

At its tallness during the planetary warfare connected terror, the detention installation held astir 680 prisoners. As of Jan. 6, determination were conscionable 15 detainees astatine the facility, according to the Pentagon.

Before being utilized to detain panic suspects, the U.S. naval installation was besides utilized to location migrants from Cuba and Haiti successful the aboriginal 1990s.