At the signing of the Laken Riley Act, President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he is directing the opening of a detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to hold up to 30,000 migrants who are living illegally in the United States and cannot be deported to their home countries.
Trump made the announcement just before he signed the immigrant detention measure, the first law of his new administration.
“We’re going to send them out to Guantanamo," the president said in the White House East Room. He did not elaborate.
The U.S. military base has been used to house detainees from the U.S. war on terrorism.
The Laken Riley Act was described by Trump as a “landmark law” and “tremendous tribute” to the slain Georgia nursing student for whom it is named. The law mandates that people in the U.S. illegally who are accused of theft and violent crimes be detained and potentially deported, even before a conviction.
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