“That is not the plan,” Noem said during an appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday when asked. “The plan is to have a process that we follow that’s laid out in law and make sure that we’re dealing with these individuals appropriately according to what the state and what the national lawsuit or law directs, so we will work with Congress to make sure that we’re addressing our legal immigration laws and using Guantanamo Bay appropriately.”
In his first week in office, President Donald Trump signed dozens of executive orders to implement his plans to deport millions of migrants illegally residing in the country.
PRICES ON THESE ITEMS COULD BE AFFECTED BY TRUMP TARIFFS ON MEXICO, CANADA
However, Immigration and Customs Enforcement only has the detention space to hold 41,000 migrants, thus prompting the Trump administration to turn to the prospect of using military bases, like President Barack Obama did in 2014, to hold illegal migrants the Department of Homeland Security is seeking to deport.
While Guantanamo Bay is widely recognized for holding terrorists responsible for the 9/11 attacks, the military base also has a couple of buildings to hold migrants caught on boats from Cuba and Haiti. This is known as the Migrant Operations Center, but it does not possess the 30,000 capacity that Trump claims it does, according to the Associated Press.
Upon signing the Laken Riley Act, Trump vowed to send the worst of the worst migrant criminals to Guantanamo Bay, which would be expanded.
A White House statement was a little more vague and stated that Guantanamo Bay would “provide additional detention space for high-priority criminal aliens unlawfully present in the United States, and to address attendant immigration enforcement needs.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Meet the Press host Kristen Welker also asked Noem if women and children would be held at the expanded facility.
“We’re going to use the facilities that we have, and I think you’re well aware we have other detention facilities in other places in the country, so we will utilize what we have according to what’s appropriate for the individuals,” Noem said.
