The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against the Trump administration seeking access to the illegal criminal migrants being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
"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. It will now be up to the courts to ensure that immigrants cannot be warehoused on offshore islands," Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project, said in a statement.
Director of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in addition to their official departments were all listed as co-defendants.
The suit was filed on behalf of several plaintiffs, including the sister of one of the men being detained at Guantanamo, as well as four legal service providers seeking to meet with the people being detained in order to provide them with legal assistance.
The ACLU attorneys are arguing the administration is not providing information on how long the deportees will be held, under what authority and conditions, and if they have means of communicating with families and attorneys.
"The Trump administration cannot be allowed to build upon Guantanamo's sordid past with these latest cruel, secretive, and illegal maneuvers," said Eunice Cho, senior staff attorney with the ACLU's National Prison Project. "Our Constitution does not allow the government to hold people incommunicado, without any ability to speak to counsel or the outside world."
The lawsuit is just one of many the ACLU has filed since President Donald Trump's victory. In November the ACLU sued to obtain information regarding ICE Air, which was used to remove approximately 140,000 illegal immigrants last year.
The ACLU is concerned that the air operations network could be increased to aid the incoming Trump administration in deporting the more than 11 million people who have entered the U.S. during former President Joe Biden's term.
Last week the first U.S. military flight arrived in Guantanamo, which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called the "perfect place" to house the worst of the criminal illegal immigrants detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.
Close to 500 Marines also have been assigned to Guantanamo Bay. The facility has the capacity to hold up to 30,000 individuals who are being deported from the United States.
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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