Paris and New York, February 05, 2025 – In light of the imminent transfer of thousands of detained immigrants from the United States to the Guantánamo military base, International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the Center for Constitutional Rights condemn the cruel and racist treatment of immigrants in the United States by the Trump administration. These actions not only evidence a clear discriminatory tendency but also an open war against migration.

Guantánamo symbolizes a space without rights as the place where hundreds of Muslim men and boys were imprisoned for more than 20 years. Fifteen people remain in this prison, including six who have never been convicted of any crime, and nine who are under military jurisdiction. Three are awaiting release, including one person represented by the Center for Constitutional Rights, a member organization of FIDH. The organization has won two Supreme Court cases against the state to challenge the legality of indefinite detention at the base.

Through this decision, Trump perpetuates the crude and illegal use of Guantánamo as a “no man’s land” and evokes images of the post-9/11 era, promoting a racist and discriminatory logic where individuals are denied basic human rights. We denounce that in this space the U.S. government violates the fundamental rights of migrants who are to be sent away from their families and lawyers.

The presence of migrants at Guantánamo is not new, as to date the military base has received a limited number of people intercepted at sea, mostly from Haiti and Cuba. However, the current executive order instructs that the reception of migrants be expanded. This is apparently being done by setting up makeshift tents to receive the first group of undocumented migrants.

The contempt and discrimination that the U.S. government exercises against the immigrant population is evident. In addition to the massive deportations, there are not only police raids against immigrants, who are treated in a cruel and racist manner in the streets of several cities, but also the intervention against children in schools and churches whose parents are immigrants. All this breaks with the ideal of integration of minors, a tradition rooted in the national imagination that, unfortunately, is fading from the U.S. social mosaic.

FIDH and the Center for Constitutional Rights reiterate the urgent need to respect and guarantee the fundamental rights of all migrants and individuals detained in the U.S.