Sending Migrants to Guantanamo Would be a Cruel, Costly, Credibility-Torching Mistake

Media Contact: Press@HumanRightsFirst.org

Washington, DC.– In response to reports that the Trump administration is considering sending tens of thousand of migrants to Guantanamo Bay, Human Rights First President and CEO, Sue Hendrickson released the following statement:

“Sending migrants to Guantanamo would create a human rights catastrophe and further besmirch the reputation of the United States. 

“Housing accused terrorists at Guantanamo has been a debacle. For the past 20 years, the U.S.government has locked up people it never even accused of taking action against the United States while continually failing to try those credibly charged with serious crimes. The Trump administration may find the symbolism of sending migrants to Guantanamo darkly appealing; its practical result would be more injustice, waste, and self-inflicted loss of credibility. 

“The president’s reported reference to the base as a ‘tough place to get out of’ raises alarm that his administration plans to use the base for indefinite detentions, which would violate U.S. law and treaties.”