What are Trump's plans for Guantanamo Bay? All you need to know about US naval base

US President's plans would see migrants sent to a different centre than the one holding terrorism suspects

President Donald Trump has signed an order for the US to prepare to hold tens of thousands of the “worst criminal illegal aliens” at Guantanamo Bay.

Here is a look at the notorious US naval base in Cuba, best known for its high-security prison holding terrorism suspects:

When did Guantanamo Bay open?

The detention site at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, opened on January 11, 2002, when the first inmates from America’s “war on terror” arrived. They were kept in chain-link cages in a secluded part of the US Naval Station Guantanamo Bay. The original prison, known as Camp X-ray, was assembled in less than 96 hours.

While the prison was first used in 2002, the US has maintained a naval base in Cuba since 1903.

What role does Guantanamo have in detaining migrants?

The New York Times reported in September 2024 that the Guantanamo military base had also been used for decades by the US to detain migrants intercepted at sea, mostly from Haiti and Cuba, but in an area separate from that used to hold those accused of terrorism.

A relatively small number of migrants have been detained at the facility – the Times reported that just 37 migrants were held there from 2020 to 2023 – but that could increase dramatically after Mr Trump's announcement, in which he said the migrant centre had “30,000 beds”.

US military bases have been used repeatedly since the 1970s to accommodate the resettlement of waves of immigrants fleeing Vietnam, Cuba, Haiti, Kosovo and Afghanistan.

Mr Trump has launched what his second administration is casting as a major crackdown on illegal migration, trumpeting immigration raids and arrests and deportations on military aircraft.

The non-profit International Refugee Assistance Project said in a report last year that the migrants are held in “prison-like” conditions. It said they were “trapped in a punitive system” indefinitely, with no accountability for the officials running it.

The US military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba was chosen because it was an "island outside the law". AFP

How many terrorism suspects remain at Guantanamo Bay?

Of the about 800 people detained on suspicion of militant activity or terrorism-related offences who have been held at Guantanamo since early 2002, only 15 inmates remain, after the release of some towards the end of former president Joe Biden's administration.

Three of the 15 are eligible for transfer, three are eligible for a review for possible release, seven are facing charges and two have been convicted and sentenced, the Defence Department said this month when it announced the release of 11 Yemenis who had been held there.

Guantanamo houses several accused plotters of the September 11, 2001 attacks, among them self-proclaimed mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

The 117-square-kilometre base had ample space and was not technically part of the US, but rather an “island outside the law”.

A passenger barge docked at US Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, on the south-east coast of Cuba. All photos: Willy Lowry / The National

A welcome sign at US Naval Station Guantanamo Bay.

A US Naval Station sign at Guantanamo Bay.

Two US Navy sailors stand at attention as they raise the American Flag at US Naval Station Guantanamo Bay.

A US Navy cutter shipped docked at Guantanamo Bay.

A view of US Naval Station Guantanamo Bay and the surrounding countryside.

Hilly landscape surrounding Guantanamo Bay.

A McDonald's arch at US Naval Station Guantanamo Bay.

The exterior of a building at the US Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay

The 'USS Billings', a littoral combat ship, docked at US Naval Station Guantanamo Bay.