Asian immigrants among Guantanamo Bay’s newest detainees

The Trump administration has reportedly broadened the range of nationalities among immigration detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, now including citizens from China, Jamaica, Liberia and the U.K. alongside previous Latin American detainees.

State of play: Earlier this week, 54 immigration detainees were housed at Guantanamo Bay’s facilities, with 41 held at Camp VI and 13 at the Migrant Operations Center, according to CBS News. While the detainees are held separately from terrorism suspects, most are classified as “high-risk” individuals with violent criminal records, patterns of disruptive conduct or suspected gang connections. Still, the administration has also sent “low-risk” detainees without serious criminal backgrounds. The Department of Defense reportedly spent $21 million flying immigration detainees to Guantanamo Bay as of April, costing more than $26,000 per flight hour.

The big picture: The move to detain immigrants at the controversial naval base follows the administration’s draconian immigration policy, which has seen others deported to third countries. Guantanamo Bay’s complex history with Asian detainees traces back to the post-9/11 era, when 22 Uyghur men were held there as “enemy combatants” for over a decade. These Chinese Muslims, who fled economic hardship and ended up in Afghanistan seeking passage to Turkey, were captured after the 2001 U.S. invasion and sold to Pakistani forces for $5,000 bounties each. All were eventually declared “non-combatants” and gradually released, with the last detainees leaving in 2013, but none were permitted to settle in the U.S.

Meanwhile, the military tribunal system at Guantanamo continues operating separately, with ongoing 9/11 cases where “no date has been set for a trial to begin” due to staff changes and ongoing plea discussion.