The United States has dismantled significant portions of a temporary migrant camp located at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, as confirmed by recent satellite images. Initially expanded under President Donald Trump to accommodate 30,000 migrants, the facility has seen limited use, with only a small number of migrants housed there since its construction began.
The Pentagon disclosed that approximately $38 million was allocated for deportation and detention operations at Guantanamo Bay in the first month of the year alone. However, the latest satellite imagery indicates that around two-thirds of the 260 tents erected for the migrant operations were removed as of April 16th.
A US defense official indicated that the removal of the tents represented a strategic adjustment rather than a diminishment of readiness. The camp had been rapidly constructed following Trump's announcement, with tents visible in satellite images from late January into early March.
The initial phase marked the expansion of the Guantanamo Migrant Operations Center, distinct from the facility used to detain suspected terrorists. Visuals from early April displayed a total of 260 tents, but by mid-April, numerous tents had been taken down.
While the precise number of migrants remaining at the base is uncertain, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller asserted on Fox News that the base remains operational for "a large number of foreign terrorist aliens." Queries directed at the White House regarding the tent removal and its implications for Trump's broader plans for the facility have remained unanswered.
Despite Trump's earlier assertion of accommodating 30,000 migrants, a defense official suggested the base's primary function is to manage around 2,500 detainees. Trump described the expansion as a measure to detain undocumented migrants viewed as threats, asserting that some are deemed too dangerous to be returned to their home countries.
Since the camp's establishment two months ago, reports indicate that approximately 400 migrants have been sent to Guantanamo Bay, with over half having been returned to U.S. facilities or deported elsewhere, including the recent deportation of 177 individuals to Venezuela.
A group of five Democratic senators, who visited the base on March 28, expressed their condemnation of what they termed the "wastefulness" of the Trump administration's military strategies and criticized the facility as undermining due process. They estimated that the costs associated with transporting and detaining migrants at Guantanamo amount to "tens of millions of dollars a month," which they deemed "an insult to American taxpayers."
The Pentagon disclosed that approximately $38 million was allocated for deportation and detention operations at Guantanamo Bay in the first month of the year alone. However, the latest satellite imagery indicates that around two-thirds of the 260 tents erected for the migrant operations were removed as of April 16th.
A US defense official indicated that the removal of the tents represented a strategic adjustment rather than a diminishment of readiness. The camp had been rapidly constructed following Trump's announcement, with tents visible in satellite images from late January into early March.
The initial phase marked the expansion of the Guantanamo Migrant Operations Center, distinct from the facility used to detain suspected terrorists. Visuals from early April displayed a total of 260 tents, but by mid-April, numerous tents had been taken down.
While the precise number of migrants remaining at the base is uncertain, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller asserted on Fox News that the base remains operational for "a large number of foreign terrorist aliens." Queries directed at the White House regarding the tent removal and its implications for Trump's broader plans for the facility have remained unanswered.
Despite Trump's earlier assertion of accommodating 30,000 migrants, a defense official suggested the base's primary function is to manage around 2,500 detainees. Trump described the expansion as a measure to detain undocumented migrants viewed as threats, asserting that some are deemed too dangerous to be returned to their home countries.
Since the camp's establishment two months ago, reports indicate that approximately 400 migrants have been sent to Guantanamo Bay, with over half having been returned to U.S. facilities or deported elsewhere, including the recent deportation of 177 individuals to Venezuela.
A group of five Democratic senators, who visited the base on March 28, expressed their condemnation of what they termed the "wastefulness" of the Trump administration's military strategies and criticized the facility as undermining due process. They estimated that the costs associated with transporting and detaining migrants at Guantanamo amount to "tens of millions of dollars a month," which they deemed "an insult to American taxpayers."
