A new report claims that roughly 300 U.S. military troops have been deployed to Naval Station Guantanamo Bay in Cuba following President Donald Trump’s executive order for the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security to expand the Migrant Operations Center to “full capacity.”
According to The New York Times, the additional U.S. military troops deployed to Guantanamo Bay, also known as Gitmo, are expected to help construct makeshift shelters to house at least 30,000 illegal immigrants deported from the United States. The outlet noted that the U.S. troops sent to Guantanamo Bay will also provide increased security amid the influx of illegal immigrants sent to the Migrant Operations Center.
A video shared on X, formerly Twitter, appears to show recent changes to the Migrant Operations Center following Trump’s executive order last week.
“Satellite imagery shows recent changes around Guantanamo Bay’s Migrant Operations Center consistent with a large scale constructions of tents,” social media user Jack Sapoch tweeted. “This is likely to house incoming troops, but potentially as well new migrants being flown to the island by the Trump administration.”
According to The Post Millennial, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has indicated that the illegal immigrants sent to Guantanamo Bay will be held in separate facilities from the military prisoners currently detained at Guantanamo Bay. The outlet noted that Hegseth also noted that an additional 6,000 illegal immigrants could potentially be held at a golf course located on the island.
In a Tuesday press release, U.S. Southern Command announced that the crew of the USS St. Louis was “supporting the expansion of the base’s Migrant Operations Center as part of Operation Southern Guard.”
READ MORE: Videos: Illegal immigrants being flown to Guantanamo Bay
“At the direction of the President of the United States to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Defense (DOD), U.S. military service members are supporting removal operations led by DHS at NGSB,” the press release stated. “U.S. Southern Command has set up a Joint Task Force Migrant Operations (JTF-MIGOPS) at the Naval Station to execute the directive.”
A spokesperson for U.S. Southern Command told Task and Purpose that there are currently 310 U.S. service members working in support of migrant “holding operations.” The spokesperson noted that the service members are from the U.S. Southern Command, U.S. Army South, and U.S. Marines. According to Task and Purpose, the spokesperson confirmed that 170 Marines were deployed last weekend to the military base in Cuba.
The reports of additional U.S. troops arriving in Guantanamo Bay come after Trump announced last week that Gitmo would be used to “detain the worst criminal illegal aliens threatening the American people.”