Tlaib, Thanedar call for permanent closure of Guantanamo, halting use for immigrant detention

Michigan’s U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib is leading an effort backed by 15 members of Congress – including U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar – calling for the Trump administration to halt the use of the Guantanamo Bay prison facility for migrant detention.

In a letter sent Monday to U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and U.S. Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Tlaib (D-Detroit) and her colleagues also called for the permanent closure of the facility.

“We write to express our outrage at the ongoing and recently proposed expansion of detention of immigrants at Guantánamo Bay,” the letter said. “For over two decades, Guantánamo Bay has been synonymous with injustice, torture, and Islamophobia. President Trump’s decision to hold thousands of immigrants – many of whom are asylum seekers and refugees – in a facility notorious for human rights abuses is morally abhorrent and unlawful.”

Aside from Thanedar (D-Detroit), the letter was also signed by notable Democrats in Tlaib’s orbit, like U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota.

“These detention facilities at Guantánamo should have been closed years ago,” the lawmakers wrote. “It is unacceptable that not only are they still operational, but they are being repurposed for yet another generation of unjust detention. As long as the United States maintains a detention facility at Guantánamo, future administrations will continue to use it to try and deprive non-citizens of meaningful access to the courts and the full protections of U.S. and international law.”

A wide swath of anti-torture, immigration and other social advocacy groups endorsed the letter, including Amnesty International USA, Human Rights Watch, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and the National Immigrant Justice Center.

“We call on the administration to immediately halt the use of Guantánamo for migrant detention, close the detention facilities for good, and ensure that all detained individuals are treated with dignity, due process, and the protections guaranteed under both U.S. and international law.”

The other Democratic members of Michigan’s Congressional delegation – U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Ann Arbor), U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Birmingham) and U.S. Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-Grand Rapids) – did not sign the letter, nor did any member of Michigan’s Republican delegation.

The letter is unlikely to have any tangible effect either within the Trump administration or the Republican controlled U.S. House and U.S. Senate.