Washington — The Defense Department has spent more than $21 million on flights to Guantanamo Bay amid the Trump administration’s migrant deportation efforts, according to figures shared in a letter sent to Congress and obtained by CBS News.
The $21 million figure was first reported by NBC News.
In January, President Trump directed his administration to use the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as a holding site for migrants, where he said the highest priority, “worst” offenders would be held as part of his aggressive crackdown on immigration. Since then, limited details about the flights have been available — including the costs.
In February, the administration transferred Venezuelan migrants to the facility, before they were taken to Honduras. And the administration has intermittently brought migrants to the base before transferring them elsewhere in the proceeding months.
In the letter, which came in response to questions from Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, the Pentagon outlined that U.S. Transportation Command has flown a total of 46 flights on military aircraft “in support of migrant deportation flights” to Guantanamo Bay between Jan. 20 and April 8, with a total of 802 hours and an average cost of $26,277 per flight hour, adding up to more than $21 million.
“Every American should be outraged by Donald Trump wasting military resources to pay for his political stunts that do not make us safer,” Warren said in a statement. “U.S. servicemembers did not sign up for this abuse of power.”
CBS News previously reported that the Trump administration has transferred both detainees considered to be “high-threat” and “low-risk” to Guantanamo, and a government memo shows the Trump administration created broad rules outlining which migrants can be held at Guantanamo Bay, allowing officials to send non-criminal detainees there.
