A 'Waste of Resources'? U.S. Spent $40 Million To Hold 400 Migrants At Guantánamo In Just 6 Weeks

The U.S. government has spent roughly $40 million in just six weeks to detain fewer than 400 migrants at the Guantánamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba, according to estimates shared by anonymous congressional aides with The New York Times. This operation, part of President Donald Trump's broader immigration enforcement efforts, has raised serious concerns among lawmakers, particularly regarding its high cost and military impact.

A Senate delegation visited Guantánamo in late March to assess the mission. The lawmakers toured the facilities, met with service members and officials, and came away highly critical of the effort. Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, told The Times that the operation is "extraordinarily expensive and unnecessary," saying those resources could be better used to strengthen existing immigration facilities in the US.

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Why Guantánamo?

The decision to use Guantánamo Bay, known for housing terrorism suspects, for immigration detention is both logistically complex and financially burdensome. The base is isolated from the rest of Cuba by a minefield and must generate its own electricity and water supply. Supplies are flown or shipped in from Florida. As a result, housing even a small number of people there comes at a steep cost.

Since February, the Department of Homeland Security has transferred about 400 migrants to the base, many of them Venezuelan. Roughly half have since been moved back to the US or deported. At one point, as few as 85 people were being held, even as nearly 1,000 U.S. government employees, mostly military personnel, were assigned to the mission.

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Military Involvement Raises Concerns

Lawmakers are also questioning the use of military resources for a task traditionally handled by civilian immigration authorities. In a joint statement, Sens. Reed, Jeanne Shaheen, Gary Peters, Alex Padilla, and Angus King said that troops were "rushed to Guantánamo Bay without notice, leaving their critical day-to-day military missions behind in order to build tents that should never be filled and guard immigrants who should never be held there."

The senators emphasized that their concern lies with the mission — not the service members. "Our troops in Guantánamo have a uniquely difficult, demanding job," the statement read, praising their professionalism. Still, the lawmakers argued that using Guantánamo for migrant detention diverts military focus and may even be legally questionable.

Legal and Transparency Questions Remain

So far, the administration has offered little public explanation about who is being sent to Guantánamo and why. A secret agreement between the Department of Defense and Homeland Security reportedly allows for the transfer of migrants with ties to transnational criminal organizations. However, some individuals sent to the base were only found to have crossed the border illegally — some more than once — but without any known violent criminal history.

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According to The Times, the most recent detainees included Nicaraguans described by DHS as "gang members," though the government has not provided supporting details. Questions about the operation's legality and oversight continue to draw scrutiny, particularly from members of Congress who say they've been kept in the dark.

Calls for an End to the Program

Following their visit, the senators urged the Trump administration to "immediately cease this misguided mission," calling it "unsustainably expensive" and "harmful to our military readiness." Despite their statement, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement transported more migrants to the base just hours after their visit ended.

While immigration enforcement remains a central political issue, the Guantánamo operation raises new questions about cost, efficiency, and the role of the military in civilian matters. For now, one thing is clear: the use of this high-security base for a small group of migrants has sparked a heated debate—one likely to continue in the months ahead.

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