The US has sent the first group of migrants to Guantanamo Bay since President Donald Trump announced plans to expand migrant detention at the base, officials say.
A brief statement from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said the detainees were part of the Tren de Aragua gang that originated in Venezuela’s prisons.
Ten detainees were flown from the Fort Bliss Army base near the Texas border to the US Navy base in Cuba on Tuesday afternoon, the BBC’s US partner CBS News reported, citing multiple US officials.
Last week, Trump ordered that an existing migrant detention facility at the base be expanded to hold some 30,000 people.
He said that would double the US capacity to hold undocumented migrants.
The move is part of Trump’s effort to crack down on undocumented migrants in the US after his return to office.
He has promised arrests and mass deportations.
