A federal judge denied temporary relief to plaintiffs in two separate lawsuits that challenged the Trump administration’s intentions of housing illegal migrants at Guantanamo Bay, The Hill reported Friday.
Washington, D.C., District Court Judge Carl Nichols denied requests for temporary restraining orders, ruling the plaintiffs failed to show “irreparable” or “imminent” harm, in part because there are no detainees with orders of final removal currently detained at Gitmo, according to the report.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Southern Command on Thursday said that no “illegal aliens” are being held at Guantanamo Bay after 40 immigrants were flown off the base on Tuesday to Louisiana, pending the judge’s ruling.
In one suit, 10 illegals sued to block their possible transfer to the U.S. military facility in Cuba. Department of Justice lawyer Drew Ensign called the lawsuits the “weirdest prison conditions cases you’ve ever faced,” The Hill reported.
U.S. officials said the facility might be used in the future to detain “high-threat” illegals.
In his ruling favoring the Trump administration, Nichols did note that “serious” questions remain as to whether the federal government can open detention centers on overseas military bases, according to The Hill.
Nichols asked Ensign to inform him if any of the plaintiffs get transferred to Guantanamo, at which point the civil rights attorneys for the plaintiffs, both backed by the American Civil Liberties Union, could reapply for injunctive relief, according to the report.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.