Somali Asylum Seekers Detained at Guantánamo Bay

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) transferred 12 Somali men—eight of whom remain—to the U.S. military base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, in late August. Seven are housed in Camp 6, a high-security section, and one is in isolation. Detainees report constant cold, aggressive shackling, round-the-clock surveillance, and cameras in shower areas.

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Guantánamo Bay has been used since the post-9/11 era to hold alleged “enemy combatants.” In 2025, an executive order expanded the Migrant Operations Center to accommodate up to 30,000 “high-priority criminal aliens.” Although the facility has not reached that capacity, ICE has intermittently used the base to detain immigrants from Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and now Somalia.

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• August 28 – Report of migrants sent to Guantánamo after months of inactivity.

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• Late August – Flight carrying Somali detainees lands at Guantánamo.

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• May 14 – Immigration judge orders removal of Abdullahi Adam Mohamed.

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• April 6 – Hassan receives a removal order from the Executive Office for Immigration Review.

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• May 19 – Hassan attempts to claim asylum at a Canadian border crossing and is returned to U.S. custody.

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• 12 Somali deportees have passed through Guantánamo; 8 remain detained.

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• 7 are in Camp 6; 1 is in isolation.

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• DHS lists offenses such as aggravated assault, weapons offenses, robbery, multiple larcenies, police obstruction, burglary tools possession, receiving stolen property, trespassing, unauthorized vehicle use, drug charges, and DUI.

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• Detainee Abdullahi Adam Mohamed reports only two parking tickets and no criminal record; no court records have been found to contradict his statement.

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A spokesperson said detainees receive three meals a day, clean water, clothing, bedding, showers, soap, toiletries, and access to phones for communication with family and lawyers. No specific detainee was identified as having any of the listed crimes.

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• “There is no legal authority for migrants to be detained at Guantánamo, especially in Camp 6,” — Yumna Rizvi, Center for Victims of Torture

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The Department of Homeland Security’s claim that the Somali detainees possess extensive criminal histories conflicts with detainees’ personal accounts and the absence of publicly available court records confirming such offenses. DHS did not specify which individual was linked to each alleged crime, and follow-up questions to the spokesperson were met with uncertainty. This lack of detailed evidence leaves a gap in verifying the government’s justification for the Guantánamo transfers.

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