ACLU of Alaska: Alaska migrant detainees ‘likely’ being held at Guantánamo Bay

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Weeks after the FBI Anchorage Field Office released pictures showing their agents detaining unnamed men as part of what the agency described as “supporting” the Department of Homeland Security’s immigration enforcement in Alaska, ACLU of Alaska leaders explained part of a national American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit filed Wednesday, with other immigration rights organizations against the Trump Administration, is to determine if those men are now being detained at a U.S. detention facility in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

“Basically, the Trump Administration has provided very little information about who is being held in Guantánamo Bay, how long they will be held there, what legal processes they are undergoing, if they even have access to contact their families or lawyers,” said Communications and Engagement Director for ACLU of Alaska Meghan Barker.

“We are raising very large due process concerns for the people that are being held in Guantánamo Bay right now.”

The 29-page suit alleges the government has transferred more than 50 immigrant detainees from the U.S. to Guantánamo, posting photos and videos of handcuffed men surrounded by uniformed military personnel, and says for the “first time in U.S. history,” the federal government has detained noncitizens from the U.S. on civil immigration charges and is holding them “incommunicado without access to attorneys, family, and the outside world.”

“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,” the suit states, going on to demand access to immigrants who have been detained.

In a statement to Alaska’s News Source Investigates, DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said there is a system in place for migrants to place phone calls to lawyers.

“If the AMERICAN Civil Liberties Union cares more about highly dangerous criminal aliens including murderers and vicious gang members than they do about American citizens, they should change their name,” McLaughlin added.

The day before the ACLU lawsuit was filed, Trump Administration “border czar” Tom Homan would not comment when reporters asked if President Donald Trump was still committed to turning Guantánamo Bay into a full migrant detention center, instead saying he is not satisfied with the number of arrests U.S. immigration officials are making.

“There’s more criminal aliens that need to be arrested, hundreds of thousands, sanctuary cities are putting roadblocks up. We’ve got leaks, so we need to increase the arrest of illegal aliens, especially those with criminal convictions,” Homan said.

Barker dismissed claims the organization should change its name, saying noncitizens also have civil liberties, and argued accusations that all migrants living in or immigrating to a country illegally are “dangerous” and “murderers and vicious gang members” is unfounded and untrue.

“We just want to make it really clear that people who might not be here [United States] documented, it would be the equivalent of someone who violated like tax code, that’s also a violation of civil code,” Barker said. “So the assumption that all people who come here undocumented are criminals by nature of how they came here is just also not true.”

A spokesperson for the FBI Anchorage office did not answer Alaska News Source Investigates requests for names of the individuals in the photos and has not said if they were arrested or are facing specific charges.

Instead, the spokesperson responded with a three-sentence statement:

“We have a long-established relationship of working with DHS on a variety of matters. We’re standing side-by-side with them to assist in their immigration enforcement operations as well. The FBI’s support may vary depending on what DHS needs, including support with field operations.”

Barker said what is unique to Alaska is that there is no state detention center, meaning when ICE or the FBI detain someone, they’re held temporarily at the Anchorage Correctional Complex before being sent to the nearest detention center in Tacoma, Washington.

“We have not received any direct reports of people who have been sent to Guantánamo Bay as it relates to this lawsuit in Alaskans being sent,” she said. “However, the fact that we do not have a detention center here makes it likely that [Guantánamo] could be a place where people are sent.

“It’s important for Alaskans to remember that they have rights,” she added. They do not have to speak with an immigration enforcement official unless they have a judicial warrant, it’s a really critical point that we are trying to make sure all Alaskans know.”

Trump has said Guantánamo has the capacity to hold as many as 30,000 people. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who was assigned to Guantánamo when he was on active duty, has called it a “perfect place” to house migrants.

Approximately 300 service members are supporting the detention operations at Guantanamo. That number is expected to fluctuate.

Trump has vowed to deport millions of the estimated 11.7 million people in the U.S. illegally. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Feb. 5 that more than 8,000 people had been arrested in immigration enforcement actions since Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

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