ACLU sues Trump administration for access to migrants sent to Guantánamo

• The ACLU filed a lawsuit accusing the Trump administration of holding detainees at Guantánamo Bay without being able to consult lawyers. The complaint said immigrants there have disappeared into a “black box.”
• A Department of Homeland Security official said the detainees can contact legal representation over the phone.
• The Trump administration said the first flight of detainees sent to Guantánamo Bay had alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

Full Story

The American Civil Liberties Union is suing the Trump administration over the migrants recently taken to Guantánamo Bay. Last week, the U.S. started using military aircraft to transport migrants to Cuba. Immigration advocates said this will result in the migrants being detained without legal representation.

The lawsuit, filed by the ACLU on Wednesday, Feb. 12, in Washington, D.C., said the detainees have a right to lawyers and calls for immediate face-to-face access to the migrants.

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Among the plaintiffs are relatives of Gitmo detainees and groups who want to offer legal services to the migrants.

The complaint claims that “immigrants held at Guantánamo have effectively disappeared into a black box and cannot contact or communicate with their family or attorneys.”

Does the DHS respond to the claims?

A senior Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official told the New York Post that migrant detainees at Gitmo have been able to contact their legal representation over the phone.

The ACLU also said the Trump administration withheld information regarding the immigration status of the transferred individuals and the conditions of their confinement.

The Trump administration said the first flight of detainees sent to Guantánamo Bay carried alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who visited the base on Friday, Feb. 7, said in a social media post that some detainees had allegedly been charged or convicted of homicide, robbery and other crimes. 

I was just in Cuba and saw firsthand criminal aliens being unloaded off a flight at GITMO.

My message to criminal alien murderers, rapists, child predators and gangsters: do not come to this country or we will hunt you down, find you, and lock you up. pic.twitter.com/rCHOUns77a

— Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) February 10, 2025

What happens next?

President Donald Trump said Guantánamo can hold as many as 30,000 people, and vowed to carry out mass deportations.

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During the week of Feb. 3, the White House confirmed more than 8,000 people have been arrested in immigration enforcement actions since Trump took office.