The first U.S. military flight to deport migrants from the United States to Guantanamo Bay was scheduled to take off on Tuesday, as confirmed by a U.S. official. This marks the initial phase of an anticipated rise in the migrant population housed at the Cuban Navy base, which historically detained individuals linked to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
President Donald Trump has eyed the facility as a holding center and said it has the capacity to hold as many as 30,000.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who formerly served at Guantanamo Bay during his active military service, has described it as an ideal facility to accommodate migrants. Recent days have seen the arrival of additional U.S. troops at the base to support in its preparation for the influx.
Furthermore, a separate operation involved the U.S. repatriating Indian migrants back to India on Monday, with the return journey ongoing through midday Tuesday, according to the same anonymous U.S. official sharing details in advance of the public announcement.
There had previously been seven deportation flights, to Ecuador, Guam, Honduras and Peru. In addition, Colombian officials flew to the U.S. and took two flights of migrants back to their country.
There are approximately 300 service members supporting the holding operations at Guantanamo Bay, and the numbers will fluctuate based on the requirements of the Department of Homeland Security, which is the lead federal agency.
CNN was first to report on the flights.
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