Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Sunday that "due process will be followed" for all migrants housed at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, in the wake of President Donald Trump’s announcement last week that his administration plans to house thousands of migrants at a military camp there.
"Due process will be followed, and having facilities at Guantánamo Bay will be an asset to us," Noem said in an interview on NBC News' "Meet the Press," adding that she appreciates "the partnership of the DoD in getting that up to the level that it needs to get to in order to facilitate this repatriation of people back to their country."
The Trump administration in its first two weeks in office has prioritized executing Trump’s his plans for the mass deportation of illegal immigrants from the United States, plans he touted often on the campaign trail last year.
Immigration enforcement agencies have ramped up their activity in the past two weeks, escalating the need for more detention space for migrants while they are processed for deportation and repatriation to their home countries.
The military facilities at Guantánamo have traditionally been used to house detainees suspected of contributing to the 9/11 attacks on the United States or other international terrorist attacks.
Beginning with the Bush administration, the U.S. government has typically suspended due process for detainees there, and in 2020, a federal appeals court upheld that standard, ruling that prisoners held at Guantánamo are not entitled to due process.
Noem reiterated the Trump administration's goal of housing the "worst of the worst" migrants at Guantánamo Bay, referring to those who have committed crimes while living in the United States illegally.
"Remember that Guantánamo Bay — clearly this president has said that it will hold the worst of the worst, that we are going after those bad actors. This last week, I was in New York City. We were going after people that had warrants out for their arrest on murders and rapes, assaults, gun purchases, drug trafficking," Noem told "Meet the Press" moderator Kristen Welker.
Still, Noem dodged multiple questions about whether women and children scheduled for deportation could be held at the military facility.
Asked once whether women and children would be held there, Noem said: "If you look at what we are doing today, it's targeting the worst of the worst. We've been very clear on that. The priority of this president is to go after criminal aliens that are making our streets more dangerous."
She added: "After that, we have final removal orders on many individuals in this country. They are the next priority, and we'll continue to work through people that are breaking the law, that are [a] danger to these communities, and use the detention centers that we have set up in order to facilitate this in an orderly way."
Asked again whether she could rule out housing women and children at Guantánamo Bay, Noem sidestepped again, telling Welker, "We're going to use the facilities that we have, and I think you're well aware we have other detention facilities, other places in the country, so we will utilize what we have according to what's appropriate for the individuals."
