Pentagon spent at least $21 million on flights to Guantanamo, which currently holds 32 migrants
Source: NBC News
May 12, 2025, 5:00 AM EDT
The Trump administration spent at least $21 million transporting migrants to Guantanamo Bay on military aircraft between January 20 and April 8, according to figures provided to Congress by the U.S. military. The naval base there currently holds 32 migrants, according to a defense official, a tiny fraction of the 30,000 that President Donald Trump promised.
Guantanamo has held a total of just under 500 migrants since Trump announced the effort in January, and it has never held more than 200 at any one time. Many of the migrants flown there are believed to have been flown back to the U.S.
Democrats condemned the Guantanamo effort as a wasteful “political stunt” by Trump, who announced in late January that migrants would be held at the navy base, which houses the notorious detention facility. Two months after the effort began, administration officials acknowledged that it was logistically and legally flawed and beset by administration infighting.
Based on the flight figures provided to Congress, it has also proven costly. The average cost per flight hour for the military aircraft, for example, has been $26,277. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, denounced the use of U.S. military assets and personnel for the mission. “Every American should be outraged by Donald Trump wasting military resources to pay for his political stunts that do not make us safer,” Warren said. “U.S. service members did not sign up for this abuse of power.”
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/pentagon-spent-least-21-million-flights-guantanamo-currently-holds-32-rcna206187
Waste. Fraud. Abuse.
= new reply since forum marked as read
March 2025
Trump’s administration has detained just 300 migrants at the U.S.-operated facility in Cuba over the last two months. But now, all migrants detained at the facility have since been flown out, The Independent learned.
The failed operation cost taxpayers at least $16 million, Representative Sara Jacobs told ABC News after visiting the site.
The government spent $3 million alone to construct tent structures, which are still not functional and were never used, CNN reports.
Federal officials told ABC News that 195 tents were built, which could house up to 500 migrants. The tents, however, lacked necessities required by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, such as air conditioning.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-guantanamo-bay-migrants-taxpayer-cost-b2715532.html
Migrant tents removed from Guantanamo bay, satellite images show
April 2025
The Pentagon spent around $38m (£28.7m) on deportation and detention operations at Guantanamo Bay in the first month of operations this year alone, a Department of Defense official said.
But new images now show that around two-thirds of the roughly 260 tents installed as part of the operation had been removed as of 16 April.
When asked about the removal of the tents, a US defence official said: "This force adjustment represents a deliberate and efficient use of resources - not a reduction in readiness."
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crm3x27vw70o
WTF??
