Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025, visited Guantanamo Bay, which he said is the front line of the war against America’s southern border. Hegseth toured prison facilities, received a briefing on migrant detention operations, and met with service members. (Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth/X)
WASHINGTON — Democratic lawmakers are questioning the long-term damage detaining migrants at Guantanamo Bay will have on U.S. military resources as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth toured and touted the mission unfolding at the naval base in Cuba.
During Hegseth’s visit to Guantanamo on Tuesday, he said the base is the front line of the war against America’s southern border. He toured prison facilities, received a briefing on migrant detention operations, and met with service members.
“The protection of the United States’ sovereign territory is [the Defense Department’s] mission, and we’ve moved swiftly to implement the commander in chief’s [executive order] on border security,” Hegseth said in a post to X.
Earlier this month, the Defense Department deployed about 1,000 troops to Naval Base Guantanamo Bay with plans to detain up to 30,000 migrants there.
But the plan, ordered Jan. 29 by President Donald Trump, risks long-term damage to the readiness and reputation of the armed forces, according to a letter signed Monday by Democratic Sens. Jon Ossoff of Georgia, Chris Coons of Delaware, Brian Schatz of Hawaii and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland. The letter, addressed to Hegseth, was released Tuesday as he visited Guantanamo.
Holding tents for migrants at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on Feb. 21, 2025. (U.S. Navy)
“This open-ended mass detention effort on a U.S. military facility risks costing [the Defense Department] hundreds of millions of unbudgeted dollars — if not billions — and thousands of man-hours, which cannot be regained,” the senators wrote in the letter.
The senators asked for the estimated cost of the Defense Department’s support to the Department of Homeland Security and when the department would be reimbursed for those costs.
Some of the 1,000 troops deployed to Guantanamo have been tasked with setting up tents to serve as migrant holding places. Others are providing logistics, supporting troops with food, housing and shower facilities.
Sailors from the destroyer the USS Thomas Hudner are also supporting migrant operations. Previously, the USS St. Louis, a littoral combat ship, moored at the base to help set up tents.
The Coast Guard has been shuttling migrants to expulsion hubs where Air Force C-17 and C-130 cargo planes await to transport them from the United States. At least 15 flights to Guantanamo have been conducted by U.S. Transportation Command, which is responsible for providing the military flights. The C-17 costs an estimated $28,000 per flight hour compared to $8,577 per flight hour for a civilian aircraft, according to senators Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, who penned a similar letter and sent it to Hegseth on Feb. 13.
The letter from senators on Tuesday also asked for an estimated cost and timeline to increase Guantanamo’s migrant capacity to 30,000, and what is the source of funding for those costs. The senators gave Hegseth a March 7 deadline to respond.
“Our men and women in uniform are warfighters, not jailers of migrants,” the senators wrote.
As of Monday, 17 migrants were being held at Guantanamo. A flight carrying an unidentified number of migrants landed at 11:35 a.m. Tuesday, just in time for Hegseth’s arrival.
“I was able to witness a grey-tail arrival of illegal aliens at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay. [The Defense Department] is proud to partner with [the Department of Homeland Security] and [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] to remove those who have infringed on our territorial sovereignty,” Hegseth posted to X.
