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Documents reveal Donald Trump’s $73 million Guantanamo migrant detention operation currently holds just six detainees, despite plans for 30,000 beds. Critics have questioned the rising costs, secrecy, and expanded use of the facility for both high-risk and low-risk migrants.
US President Donald Trump's $73 million detention facility in Cuba is now facing intense scrutiny(Sipa)When US President Donald Trump returned to the White House last year in January, he announced plans to turn the US military base in Guantanamo Bay detention camp into a massive detention center. However, a year later, the detention center is sitting mostly empty, documents show.
Citing internal government documents and information provided to Congress, CBS News on Wednesday reported that Trump's plan to convert the base into a massive detention center to hold nearly 30,000 detainees facing deportation has only six immigration detainees as of May 11. This is despite the highly publicized operation, which is projected to cost the American military over $70 million.
The US President's plan to convert the naval base in Cuba into a detention center was part of his aggressive crackdown on illegal immigrants in the country. According to federal documents, all six detainees are Haitian nationals, and in the last year, as many as 832 immigration detainees were transferred to the base on over 100 flights.
Government employees outnumber detainees at Guantanamo Bay
Reports suggest that the detention center in Guantanamo Bay has a significantly higher number of government employees assigned to the immigration operation than detainees. This week, government employees outnumbered detainees by roughly 100 to one.
Figures provided to Congress show that the Department of Defense has deployed 522 personnel to support immigration detention operations at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. Internal federal documents also show that around 60 US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel and other non-military staff are assigned to the mission.
Trump's immigration detention effort to cost $73 million
According to information the Department of Defense shared with Elizabeth Warren in April, the US military now expects the Guantanamo immigration detention mission to cost about $73 million. The revised figure is significantly higher than the earlier public estimate of $40 million.
Back in January 2025, when Trump announced plans to set up a detention center, he also said that officials would create 30,000 detention beds at Guantanamo. However, the internal documents have revealed that the base's capacity to hold immigration detainees is limited to approximately 400 beds. As of May 11, less than two per cent of the beds were occupied.
Detention center faces scrutiny over rising costs
Along with the figures shared with Congress, the documents offer a clearer picture of the controversial and largely secretive operation to detain civil immigration detainees at Guantanamo Bay detention camp, a facility that became infamous after 9/11 over allegations of abuse, torture, and violations of due process involving terrorism suspects held indefinitely there.
Speaking to CBS News, Senator Warren, who received the estimated cost of the detention center operation, accused Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth of "wasting billions in taxpayer funds on a cruel immigration agenda."
Criminal illegal aliens not welcome in the US: DHS
In a statement released on Wednesday, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokeswoman Lauren Bis said, "If you come to our country illegally and break our laws, you could end up in Guantanamo Bay, CECOT, or a third country. Our message is clear: criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the U.S."
The Trump administration has released little to no details regarding its operation to hold those awaiting deportation at the Guantanamo base. Before the second Trump administration, the US government under both Republican and Democratic presidents used the detention camp in Cuba to hold some migrants intercepted at sea, including tens of thousands of Haitians during the Clinton administration. However, following Trump's return to the White House in February 2025, officials began sending groups of detainees arrested by ICE in the country to Guantanamo so they could be held there pending deportation.
Trump administration sending wide range of detainees to Guantanamo
While initially the Trump administration vowed to only send the "worst" detainees and "high-priority criminal aliens" to Guantanamo, recent reporting has revealed that that is not the case. The detention center is now holding both migrants with alleged gang or criminal histories and detainees categorized as "low-risk" because they lacked serious criminal records, or any at all.
With only a handful of detainees currently being held at the base despite tens of millions of dollars in projected spending, critics are questioning whether the controversial effort is serving as an effective immigration tool or merely a political symbol of the administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
About the Author
Swati Gandhi
Swati Gandhi is a digital journalist with over four years of experience, specialising in international and geopolitical issues. Her work focuses on foreign policy, global power shifts, and the political and economic forces shaping international relations, with a particular emphasis on how global developments affect India. She approaches journalism with a strong belief in context-driven reporting, aiming to break down complex global events into clear, accessible narratives for a wide readership.<br><br> Previously, Swati has worked at Business Standard, where she covered a range of beats including national affairs, politics, and business. This diverse newsroom experience helped her build a strong grounding in reporting, while also strengthening her ability to work across both breaking news and in-depth explanatory stories. Covering multiple beats early in her career has helped her be informed about her current work, allowing her to connect domestic developments with wider international trends.<br><br> At Live Mint, she focuses on international and geopolitical issues through a business and economic lens, examining how global political developments, foreign policy decisions, and power shifts impact markets, industries, and India’s strategic and economic interests.<br><br> She holds a Bachelor’s degree in English (Honours) from the University of Delhi and a Master’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University. Her academic training has shaped her emphasis on precision, analytical rigour, and clarity in writing. Her interests include global political economy and the intersection of geopolitics with business.<br><br> Outside work, Swati focuses on exploring her passion and love for food. From fancy cafes to street spots, Swati explores food like a true foodie.
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