Detaining Refugees in Guantánamo Bay Is Inhumane. Close It Now

When I heard the news that President Donald Trump wants to detain up to 30,000 migrants at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba, my stomach sank. I am an immigration attorney at the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), and last year my colleagues and I published a report trying to uncover and end the inhumane detention of refugees at the naval base. The details of our investigation show why the Migrant Operations Center at Guantánamo should be closed, not expanded, and why the Trump administration's plan for mass detentions would be disastrous.

Most Americans know Guantánamo for its notorious role as a United States military prison post-9/11. But it also has a long history as an offshore migrant detention site where refugees face some of the same secrecy, inhumanity, and efforts to avoid oversight.