Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said Guantánamo Bay is the “perfect spot” to house deported migrants, after President Trump signed a memo Wednesday ordering a facility there be prepared for that purpose.
“Guantánamo Bay, Jesse, is a perfect spot,” Hegseth said in an interview on Fox News’s “Jesse Waters Reports.”
“We don’t want illegal criminals in the United States any— not a minute longer than they have to be,” he continued. “Move them off to Guantánamo Bay, where they can be safely maintained until they are deported to their final location, their country of origin, where they are headed.”
The memo Trump signed directs the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to prepare a 30,000-person migrant facility at Guantánamo Bay, a facility in Cuba that has been used to house military prisoners, including several involved in the 9/11 attacks.
Asked whether Guantánamo Bay can accommodate 30,000 people, Hegseth said, “Absolutely we can. And we can plus that up very rapidly.”
Hegseth noted that he served at Guantánamo Bay and is familiar with areas that can house 30,000 migrants. He also said that the military prison “has long been a place for migrants,” adding, “In fact, in the 90s, tens of thousands of Haitian and Cuban migrants staged there as part of a crisis.”
“We have an even bigger crisis on our hands right now,” Hegseth added.
Since taking office on Jan. 20, Trump has signed a slew of executive orders specifically intended to crack down on immigration. He has declared a national emergency at the southern border, deployed military assets to the border, reinstated policies that limit pathways to asylum and paused the refugee program.
The Trump administration has also ramped up deportations, with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) posting regular updates about how many arrests it carries out on a day-to-day basis. But the rapid deportations have, in some cases, led to issues about where to send individuals being removed from the U.S., particularly if certain countries refuse to accept migrants.
“Where do you move them?” Hegseth said, referring to the migrants that ICE arrests. “I’ll tell you what. We’re not, no one’s going to be waiting on the Defense Department. We’re going to lean forward.”
“So we feel great about this plan,” he added. “We know we can execute it, and the Defense Department is prepared to do everything we can. We just laud DHS and ICE for what they’ve done, and we’re coming alongside them to make sure we protect the American people.”
