Civil rights lawyers filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Wednesday, seeking access to migrants who they claim have been flown to Guantanamo Bay and detained there without the ability to contact lawyers or their families. The lawsuit, filed in Washington, D.C., and supported by the American Civil Liberties Union, argues that this is the first time in U.S. history that non-citizens facing civil immigration charges have been held at the U.S. naval base in Cuba. The complaint states that these individuals are being held incommunicado, with no access to legal representation, family, or any outside communication.
The Department of Homeland Security, one of the agencies named in the lawsuit, maintains that detainees can contact lawyers by phone. Historically, the naval base was used to detain individuals linked to the September 11, 2001 attacks. However, more than 50 migrants were transferred there this month and, according to the lawsuit, have been effectively disappeared into a “black box.”
The lawsuit states, “This isolation is deliberate. Guantanamo is known for housing one of the most infamous prisons globally, often used by the U.S. government when it seeks to operate in secrecy, without legal oversight or accountability.”
The lawsuit’s plaintiffs include family members of three Venezuelan immigrants who were transferred to Guantanamo from immigration detention centers in Texas. The suit accuses government officials of violating the detainees’ constitutional rights to due process and free speech.
The attorneys representing the plaintiffs are requesting a court order to allow them to meet with the detainees. They are also seeking an order that would require officials to disclose a detainee’s location within 24 hours of their transfer to Guantanamo.
According to a U.S. official, the first U.S. military flight transporting migrants from the U.S. to Guantanamo landed in Cuba on February 4. This marks the beginning of what is expected to be an increase in the number of migrants being sent to the U.S. base.
President Donald Trump has stated that Guantanamo has the capacity to hold up to 30,000 people. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who was stationed at Guantanamo during his military service, has referred to it as a “perfect place” to detain migrants. Around 300 service members are currently supporting the detention operations at Guantanamo, though this number is expected to change.
Trump has pledged to deport millions of the estimated 11.7 million undocumented individuals living in the U.S. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced on February 5 that more than 8,000 people had been arrested in immigration enforcement actions since Trump’s inauguration on January 20.
The lawsuit’s plaintiffs also include four advocacy organizations: Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, American Gateways, and Americans for Immigrant Justice.
These groups, along with the detainees’ families, have filed suit against the Defense Department, the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security, and the secretaries of these departments. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and its acting director are also named as defendants in the case.
ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt expressed concern, stating, “It’s troubling enough that we are sending immigrants from the U.S. to Guantanamo, but it’s unconscionable to hold them incommunicado, with no access to attorneys, family, or the outside world.”
In addition to the ACLU, attorneys from the Center for Constitutional Rights and the International Refugee Assistance Project are also representing the plaintiffs in the case.