Dozens of Cuban deportees stranded at Guantánamo Bay since before Christmas
About 50 Cuban men designated for deportation have been stranded at the U.S. naval base at Guantánamo Bay since before Christmas, the New York Times reports. The men were rounded up in the United States last year and were flown to the base instead of to Havana. The Cubans, who range in age from their 20s to about 50, were housed in a prison that previously held suspected members of Al Qaeda, according to people familiar with the operation.
"Some of the Cubans there now thought they were agreeing to be deported and were shocked when they landed at Guantánamo," said Lee Gelernt of the American Civil Liberties Union, which has challenged the deportation detention operation. The transfers began when 22 men were moved on Dec.
14 from a holding site in Alexandria, La. Government officials said those first 22 included "illegal aliens" with "criminal histories" of homicide, kidnapping, assault, battery, obstructing law enforcement and cruelty toward a child, but they did not provide details. Relatives said at least six of the men had work permits and had applied for asylum; those relatives spoke on the condition of anonymity.
More Cubans arrived on Dec. 19 and in early January, with many initially held in an old barracks near the airstrip and later consolidated at Camp 6 because of an undisclosed maintenance problem. The episode highlights logistical and diplomatic constraints in the Trump administration’s plan to use Guantánamo as a deportation center after President Trump’s Jan.
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