US President Donald Trump has ordered the construction of a migrant detention facility in Guantanamo Bay to house “worst criminal illegal aliens threatening the American people”.
He said the facility at the US Navy base in Cuba which would be separate from its high-security military prison would hold as many as 30,000 people, reported BBC.
Immigrants have been long held up in Guantanamo Bay, a practice that has been criticised by some human rights groups.
On Wednesday, Trump’s “border tsar” Tom Homan said the existing facility there would be expanded and run by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The migrants could be transported there directly after being intercepted at sea by the US Coast Guard, and the “highest” detention standards would be applied.
The plan was swiftly condemned by Cuba accusing the US of torture and illegal detention on “occupied” land.
Trump announced the move as he signed the so-called Laken Riley Act into law, requiring undocumented immigrants who are arrested for theft or violent crimes to be held in jail pending trial.
The bill has been named after a Georgia nursing student who was murdered last year by a Venezuelan migrant which was approved by Congress last week.
During the signing ceremony, Trump said the new Guantanamo executive order would instruct the Departments of Defence and Homeland Security to “begin preparing” the 30,000-bed facility.
“Some of them are so bad we don’t even trust the countries to hold them because we don’t want them coming back,” he said of migrants. “So we’re going to send them to Guantanamo… it’s a tough place to get out.”
