USS St. Louis sailors build tents at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The St. Louis, a littoral combat ship homeported at Naval Station Mayport, Fla., was moored Feb. 4, 2025, at the base to assist in the expansion of the migrant operations center there. (U.S. Fourth Fleet)
Sailors from a Navy ship moored at Guantanamo Bay are helping Marines set up tents there as the first military flights to deport migrants from the United States to the Navy base in Cuba took off Tuesday.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced early Tuesday that the flights to the Navy base were underway. Hours later, U.S. Fourth Fleet announced the USS St. Louis, a littoral combat ship homeported at Naval Station Mayport, Fla., was moored at the base to assist in the expansion of the migrant operations center there.
The St. Louis extended its deployment, according to a Jan. 22 message to families that was shared to the ship’s Facebook page.
“Due to operational requirements, we have been extended in theater and delayed in returning to homeport. I understand the back and forth over the past week has been difficult on our families at home, and for that, I sincerely apologize,” said Cmdr. TJ Orth, commanding officer of the St. Louis.
The ship has been deployed to the Fourth Fleet area of operations to counter maritime drug operations since mid-June.
The arrival of the St. Louis sailors and deported migrants come days after 150 Marines arrived at the Navy base in Cuba to begin preparing migrant detention facilities. Guantanamo Bay has been used primarily for the last two decades to detain those associated with the 9/11 attacks. President Donald Trump said the base has the capacity to hold as many as 30,000 migrants.
The 150 Marines left Saturday and Sunday for Guantanamo. They are assigned to the 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division based at Camp Lejeune, N.C., according to U.S. Southern Command, the combatant command that oversees operations in the region. Additional troops from SOUTHCOM and Army South also deployed.
Marines with the 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2d Marine Division walk towards a C-130 Hercules plane at Marine Corps Air Station New River, N.C., on Feb. 1, 2025. The Marines deployed to Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. (Noelia Vazquez/U.S. Marine Corps)
There had been seven deportation flights prior to this to Ecuador, Guam, Honduras and Peru. In addition, Colombian officials flew to the U.S. and took two flights of migrants back to their country, The Associated Press reported.
Meanwhile, Navy crews flying reconnaissance planes have helped monitor the southern border, the sea service shared on social media.
Two P-8A Poseidon reconnaissance squadrons have conducted flights in support of increased efforts from the Pentagon to assist the Department of Homeland Security with border security.
Planes from Patrol Squadron 40, the “Fighting Marlins,” and Patrol Squadron 45, the “Pelicans,” monitored the U.S.-Mexico border last week. The planes are multimission, maritime aircraft that conduct anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and humanitarian response. Squadron 40 is based at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Wash., and Squadron 45 is based at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Fla.
A sailor assigned to Patrol and Reconnaissance Squadron 45 conducts a pre-flight inspection on a P-8A Poseidon aircraft at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Fla., on Jan. 30, 2025. (Petty Officer 2nd Class Jonathan Berlier/U.S. Navy photo )
Both are supporting the border security efforts from their home base, according to U.S. Northern Command, the combatant command responsible for all military work at the border.
The Navy assets join about 2,500 National Guard troops and 1,600 active-duty service members – of which approximately 1,000 were Army and 500 were Marines -- at the southern border deployed in support of Customs and Border Protection. The services are working under NORTHCOM alongside the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection.
Up to 1,000 additional troops will soon join the effort, according to the AP. That will include 500 soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum in New York, and another 500 Marines slated to work at Guantanamo.
Stars and Stripes reporter Rose Thayer contributed to this report.
Sailors from the USS St. Louis work to set up tents at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, lending a hand to Marines sent to the base to assist in the expansion of migrant operations there. (U.S. Fourth Fleet)
