The United States has transferred 22 Cuban migrants to the Guantánamo Bay naval base this week, resuming a controversial Trump-era immigration policy for the first time since January.

The United States Government transferred 22 Cuban immigrants this week to the Guantanamo Bay naval base, a move that marks the first transfer of those nationals to the facility since January 2025, when President Donald Trump ordered the creation of an immigration detention center at the base with a capacity for approximately 30,000 people.

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The 22 men were transferred from Louisiana on a charter flight by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) despite a federal court ruling.

According to an anonymous Department of War official, five of them are considered “high-risk illegal aliens” and will likely remain in an area previously used to detain Al Qaeda suspects.

Official data shows that ICE has arrested nearly 75,000 people without criminal records between January 20 and October 15, 2025, more than one-third of the 220,000 arrests reported in that period.

US sends 22 Cuban migrants to Guantanamo Bay despite court ruling
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The US has transferred 22 Cuban migrants to its naval base at Guantanamo Bay, defying a recent federal court decision that ruled the administration exceeded its authority by holding migrants at the facility,… pic.twitter.com/PTIhVJOOSb

— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) December 17, 2025

By May, the Trump Administration had spent $21 million on flights to transfer only a few hundred migrants to Guantánamo, many of them Venezuelans.

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