According to NBC News, the Biden White House is considering housing migrants at the Guantanamo Bay.
According to NBC reporters, the White House Security Council asked the Dept. of Homeland Safety (DHS) for the amount of Haitian migrants arrested at sea who would need to identify a third country to stay in while they await procedures to enter the country. The Biden admin. is contemplating Guantanamo Bay as a waiting center if there is an excessive quantity of Haitian migrants for a third country.
Guantanamo is a maximum-security jail that has housed some of the most heinous criminals, including 9/11 attackers.
In the past, the facility has also housed migrants from Cuba and Haiti. According to NBC, the Biden government is contemplating using the base’s Migrant Operations Center and boosting its capacity to 400 beds.
“The United States government always plans for contingencies out of an excessive amount of caution and for a wide variety of probable circumstances. These migratory contingencies existed long before the Biden-Harris Admin,” an NSC official said after NBC aired the story, adding that no decision has been taken and the amount of Haitian migrants apprehended at sea has declined.
Almost a year ago, the Biden government was confronted with a wave of Haitian migrants that surpassed the capabilities of Border Patrol in Del Rio, Texas, when thousands of them gathered beneath the international bridge in the hope of entering the United States. During Biden’s presidency, millions of migrants tried to get into the country, most all of them illegally.
“The U.S. continues to support the people of Haiti. We recently sent Haitian govt.- purchased security equipment, including specialized and armored vehicles and supplies, to support the Haitian Federal Police in their battle against criminal actors advocating violence,” said an NSC spokeswoman to NBC.
According to NBC, gangs recently attempted to seize control of Haiti’s government. Most recently, the gangs attempted to prevent petroleum from entering the country.
According to an agency official, DHS is watching “the situation in Haiti, and there are established precautionary measures ready in the case of a spike in sea migration.”
“Dept. of Homeland security components, including U.S. Border Control, Air and Naval Operations, and the U.S. Coast Guard are maintaining a continuous presence with sea and air assets in the Florida straits and the Caribbean Sea, as part of a multi-layered strategy to apprehend migrants trying to enter the United States,” the spokesperson added.
