Civil Rights Attorneys Sue Trump Admin to Keep Migrants Out of Guantanamo: 'It's a Living Hell'

Civil rights attorneys have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration to prevent the transfer of undocumented immigrants from the United States to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), alongside other advocacy groups, contends that the policy is illegal and denies detainees their constitutional rights.

The lawsuit specifically seeks to block the transfer of ten individuals currently detained in the U.S., arguing that their relocation to Guantánamo would violate federal law and due process protections under the Fifth Amendment. The lawsuit is the second filed by the ACLU in less than a month, after a February 12 one which denounced that migrants transferred to the U.S. detention facility were being held without access to legal counsel or communication with the outside world.

Through a statement on the organization's website, Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project, provided insight into the latest lawsuit:

"The purpose of this second Guantánamo lawsuit is to prevent more people from being illegally sent to this notorious prison, where the conditions have now been revealed to be inhumane"

The Trump administration has justified its use of Guantánamo by citing national security concerns. In a January 29 executive order, President Trump declared that the expansion of operations at the naval base was part of a broader strategy to "dismantle criminal cartels."

Saturday's lawsuit does not challenge the U.S. government's authority to detain migrants on U.S. soil, or to deport them directly to their home country or another country allowed under immigration law. Instead, the suit argue that it is illegal for the U.S. to first send those migrants to Guantánamo.

The ACLU's first lawsuit, filed on February 12, alleged that individuals already held at Guantánamo had been placed incommunicado, without access to legal counsel or family. According to court filings, at least 50 people had been transferred to the facility at that time, though the number may now be closer to 200.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has responded by stating that detainees can contact attorneys by phone. However, the ACLU and its partners argue that this is insufficient given the isolated nature of the facility. "By hurrying immigrants off to a remote island cut off from lawyers, family, and the rest of the world, the Trump administration is sending its clearest signal yet that the rule of law means nothing to it," Gelernt said upon filing the previous suit.