ACLU sues Trump administration for access to migrants detained in Guantánamo Bay

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued the Trump administration Wednesday to gain access to migrants being housed at a facility in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

“By hurrying immigrants off to a remote island cut off from lawyers, family, and the rest of the world, the Trump administration is sending its clearest signal yet that the rule of law means nothing to it. It will now be up to the courts to ensure that immigrants cannot be warehoused on offshore islands,” Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, said in a statement.

Trump administration officials are rapidly moving forward with President Trump’s directive to turn Guantánamo Bay into a facility that could hold up to 30,000 migrants who are being deported from the United States.

The move uses the same facility in Cuba that has been used to house military prisoners, including several al Qaeda operatives linked to the 9/11 attacks.

The first flight of migrants to Guantánamo Bay took place last week, with a small number of individuals arriving Wednesday.

The suit argues that migrants have a right to habeas corpus — to challenge the legality of their detention — as well as the Immigration and Nationality Act, which gives detained migrants the right to access their own counsel.

It also said the detention violates their First Amendment rights to free speech and their Fifth Amendment rights to due process.

The suit was filed on behalf of numerous groups that work with migrant populations.

“Even in the face of significant public concern about this unprecedented action, the government has offered no legal authority for the transfer of individuals in immigration custody from within the United States to Guantánamo," it reads.

“Although the government has widely publicized images of people it now detains at Guantánamo, it has also cut off any means of communication that these detained immigrants have with the outside world. Immigrants held at Guantánamo have effectively disappeared into a black box and cannot contact or communicate with their family or attorneys.”

The suit was also filed on behalf of numerous organizations that provide legal services to migrants, alleging their First Amendment rights were violated.

“These activities are forms of political association and expression,” the suit says.