A U.S. Air Force C-17 carrying detained migrants arrived at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on Feb. 6, the second such flight to the U.S. military outpost this week, a defense official told Air & Space Forces Magazine, part of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
The aircraft took off from Biggs Army Airfield at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, which has become the hub for deportation flights. U.S. Transportation Command (TRANSCOM) later confirmed the flight.
Another C-17 flew a deportation flight to Guatemala before continuing on to Ecuador on Feb. 6, TRANSCOM said.
On Feb. 4, 10 people who are suspected members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua were flown on a C-17 to Guantanamo Bay, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The migrants are being housed in facilities built for terrorism suspects after 9/11, which the Department of Defense said is a “temporary measure.”
“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is taking this measure to ensure the safe and secure detention of these individuals until they can be transported to their country of origin or other appropriate destination,” the Pentagon said in a statement on Feb. 5. The DOD said the 10 migrants were “high-threat individuals.”
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Feb. 6 flight to Guantanamo.
In addition to the flights to Guantanamo, there have been at least 11 C-17 deportation flights to Guatemala, Ecuador, Honduras, Peru, and India. Two USAF C-17s carrying migrants were denied permission to land in Colombia on Jan. 26, resulting in a brief diplomatic spat. The flight to India, which carried around 100 migrants, was the longest deportation mission the DOD has conducted since Trump ordered the use of U.S. military aircraft to conduct flights normally carried out by chartered or government-owned civilian aircraft.
Trump has also ordered the Pentagon to increase its troop presence for the border security mission by at least 2,000 service members.
Trump issued an executive order Jan. 29 directing the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security to “expand the Migrant Operations Center at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay to full capacity.” The Migrant Operations Center is separate from the detention facility. The Trump administration has said up to 30,000 migrants could be held at the base.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who was deployed to Guantanamo Bay when he was in the Army, called it the “perfect place” to house migrants.
The Pentagon has sent at least 300 service members there so far to support the mission. Marines, Soldiers, Sailors, and Coast Guardsmen are involved in the effort. The littoral combat ship USS St. Louis is moored at Guantanamo Bay and its crew is helping erect tents for the migrants.
“The first phase of expansion will increase the center’s capacity to approximately 2,000 migrants,” the U.S. 4th Fleet said in a news release. The mission has been dubbed Operation Southern Guard, according to the Navy.
