Civil rights lawyers filed a lawsuit on Saturday to stop the Trump administration from transferring 10 migrants currently detained in the U.S. to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The suit includes testimonies from individuals held at the base, describing their mistreatment under conditions some described as “a living hell.” This legal action follows a similar case filed less than a month ago, in which the same attorneys sought access to migrants already detained at the naval base in Cuba after living in the U.S. illegally. Both lawsuits were filed in Washington and have the backing of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
In addition, the attorneys submitted statements from detainees, which were translated from Spanish into English, including those from two men still held at Guantanamo Bay, four individuals who were transferred to Venezuela in February, and a Venezuelan migrant sent back to Texas.
The detainees recounted being confined in small, windowless cells with constant lighting that made it difficult to sleep. They also described inadequate food, medical care, and physical and verbal abuse by staff. One detainee reported attempting suicide, and two others mentioned witnessing similar attempts by fellow prisoners.
Raul David Garcia, a former detainee who was returned to Venezuela, shared that it was easy to lose the will to live in such conditions. “I had been kidnapped in Mexico before, and at least my captors there told me their names,” he recalled. Jonathan Alejandro Alviares Armas, another former detainee, described how some prisoners were denied water or were tied to chairs outside their cells for hours as punishment for protesting their treatment. “Guantanamo is a living hell,” he stated.
In a separate legal action filed in New Mexico, a federal judge ruled on February 9 to block the transfer of three Venezuelan migrants from New Mexico to Guantanamo Bay.
The White House, along with the Defense and Homeland Security departments, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the latest lawsuit. These agencies are among the defendants in the case.
President Trump has pledged to carry out large-scale deportations of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally and has suggested that Guantanamo Bay, also known as “Gitmo,” could house up to 30,000 detainees. He has indicated that the base would be used for “the worst” criminals or high-risk individuals, although no specific details have been provided regarding the charges or convictions of those being transferred.
At least 50 migrants have already been moved to Guantanamo Bay, and civil rights attorneys believe the number has increased to around 200. This marks the first time in U.S. history that the government has detained noncitizens facing civil immigration charges at the base. Historically, the facility has been used to detain individuals linked to the 9/11 attacks.
The base’s military detention center, which once held 800 people, now only holds 15, including the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Critics have long condemned the facility for its poor treatment of detainees. A 2023 report by a U.N. inspector claimed that detainees continue to experience “cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment,” though much of the criticism was rejected by the U.S.
The 10 men involved in the latest lawsuit arrived in the U.S. between 2023 and 2024, including seven from Venezuela and others from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. The lawsuit asserts that the Afghan and Pakistani migrants fled the Taliban, while two Venezuelans were tortured by the government due to their political beliefs. One of the Venezuelans, Walter Estiver Salazar, described being kidnapped by government officials after he refused an order to cut off electricity to his town. He was beaten, suffocated, and nearly shot.
Salazar expressed regret for his U.S. conviction on DUI charges, while another Venezuelan had charges related to a domestic dispute dropped. The attorneys argue that many individuals transferred to Guantanamo Bay lack serious criminal records or any criminal history at all. Four Venezuelans claimed they were falsely accused of being gang members based on their tattoos, including one individual whose tattoo was of a Catholic rosary.
The new lawsuit argues that these transfers violate the detainees' constitutional right to due process, as guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment. It also contends that U.S. immigration law prohibits the transfer of non-Cuban migrants to Guantanamo Bay and that the U.S. government does not have authority to detain individuals outside its territory, as the base remains part of Cuba. The transfers are described as arbitrary.
The attorneys' earlier lawsuit, filed on February 12, argued that detainees at Guantanamo Bay had effectively “disappeared,” unable to communicate with their attorneys or families. The Department of Homeland Security claimed detainees could reach their lawyers by phone.
Yoiker David Sequera, a former detainee, stated that while he was allowed one phone call to the ACLU, he was denied the opportunity to speak with his family. Current detainee Tilso Ramon Gomez Lugo said he was not permitted to contact anyone for two weeks, until he was finally allowed to make a single call to his attorneys.
The lawsuit also emphasizes that Guantanamo Bay lacks the necessary infrastructure to detain even the 10 migrants in question. Garcia, who had been held at the base, described Camp 6, a part of the facility where migrants like him were confined, as hastily constructed and unfinished. “It was freezing, and I felt like chicken trapped in an incubator,” he said.