Trump Announces Plan to Detain 30,000 Migrants at Guantanamo Bay
US President Donald Trump has signed announced an executive order called Protecting The American People Against Invasion which focuses primarily on immigration, more so illegal immigration.
In line with this executive order Trump has committed to establishing a large scale migrant detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The plan involves sending up to 30,000 individuals who are in the US illegally to the US naval base, which has long been known for housing terrorism suspects and detainees.
The decision has sparked outrage both domestically and internationally, with critics calling it a violation of human rights and a drastic escalation of immigration enforcement.
Trump Lists Cartels as Terrorist Organisations
A lot of Trump's focus on migration is mapped out in a number of executive orders such as Designating Cartels and Other Organizations as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists which goes into detail about allegations that cartel's are involved in establishing gangs in the U.S and are responsible for a lot of rape, crime and illegal migrants.
The executive order excludes other traditional organised crime groups such as the Mafia and solely focuses on Mexican crime groups with the executive order stating "The Cartels have engaged in a campaign of violence and terror throughout the Western Hemisphere that has not only destabilized countries with significant importance for our national interests but also flooded the United States with deadly drugs, violent criminals, and vicious gangs.
The Cartels functionally control, through a campaign of assassination, terror, rape, and brute force nearly all illegal traffic across the southern border of the United States. In certain portions of Mexico, they function as quasi-governmental entities, controlling nearly all aspects of society. The Cartels' activities threaten the safety of the American people, the security of the United States, and the stability of the international order in the Western Hemisphere. Their activities, proximity to, and incursions into the physical territory of the United States pose an unacceptable national security risk to the United States."
Trump's announcement was made at a White House briefing in front of media and the general public where Trump stated "We have 30,000 beds in Guantánamo to detain the worst criminal illegal aliens threatening the American people".
Laken Riley Act
This comes as the president has just signed the Laken Riley Act This is Trump's first piece of legislation since being re-elected at President and is developed in memory of a Georgia nursing student that was killed by an undocumented migrant. The murder sent shockwaves throughout the community and caused further division in the U.S about migration with many calling for stronger penalties and enforcement of current laws.
The Act now mandates the detention and potential deportation of undocumented immigrants accused of theft and violent crimes before conviction which is a similar policy and process that Australia currently has.
At the White House Briefing Trump Stated "Today, I’m also signing an executive order to instruct the Departments of Defence and Homeland Security to begin preparing the 30,000-person migrant facility at Guantanamo Bay," Trump stated. "We’re going to send them out to Guantanamo." While the naval base already has a designated facility for detaining migrants intercepted at sea, this new plan dramatically expands its scope and purpose.
Act, which mandates the detention and potential deportation of undocumented immigrants accused of theft and violent crimes before conviction.
Global Backlash
While many around the world are criticising the President's position and raising concerns about human rights violations, It is important to note that Australia has similar policies where it deports illegal migrants and under John Howard, towed migrants back to their nations when found at sea.
At times Australian Military would also fire warning rounds at asylum seeker boats threatening to sink them if they continued. While Australia doesn't have a Guantanamo Bay. It does have Christmas Island and a number of other detention centres which are privately run and have seen their fair share of controversy.
Allegations of sexual assault on women in detention by guards were raised including women forced to show their naked bodies to male guards for additional privileges. Furthermore, Australia constantly deports migrants with 362 New Zealand nationals deported annually.
So while the world scorns Trump, the world also is hypocritical because it turns a blind eye on the same things Australia has been doing for centauries. America is extremely progressive and it's support for migrants has been a lot better than Australia's and the U.S still falls short of what Australian's do to migrants.
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