DHS slams ACLU over lawsuit accusing Trump admin of denying migrant detainees at Guantanamo Bay access to lawyers

DHS slams ACLU over lawsuit accusing Trump admin of denying migrant detainees at Guantanamo Bay access to lawyers

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued the Trump administration on Wednesday arguing that migrants detained in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have not been given adequate access to lawyers – a claim the Department of Homeland Security disputed and said shows the organization cares more about “highly dangerous criminal aliens” than Americans. 

The complaint, filed in the district court of Washington, DC, described the notorious Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp (GITMO) as a “legal black hole” where the Trump administration is attempting to “thwart access to counsel” for migrant detainees.

“For the first time in US history, the federal government has moved noncitizens apprehended and detained in the United States on civil immigration charges to the Naval Station at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba,” the lawsuit reads. “And it is holding them incommunicado, without access to attorneys, family, or the outside world.” 

The Trump administration has accused the three men named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit of having ties to Tren de Aragua. @Sec_Noem

The ACLU believes the federal government is “ramping up” migrant flights to GITMO and is now housing over 50 people with deportation orders without “any means of communication” to 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 complaint states. “By doing so, the US government has prevented immigrants from accessing legal assistance to understand their rights and to challenge their transfer and detention or conditions of confinement at Guantánamo.”

A senior Department of Homeland Security official told The Post that migrant detainees at GITMO have been able to contact their legal representation over the phone. 

“There is a system for phone utilization to reach lawyers,” the official said. 

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

The ACLU further claims that the Trump administration has “withheld information regarding the legal basis for these individuals’ transfers and confinement at Guantánamo, the likelihood of their continued detention, the immigration status of the transferred individuals, the nature of any legal proceedings against them, the conditions of their confinement, and the government’s treatment of and plans for these individuals.” 

President Trump announced last month that he planned to send some 30,000 criminal migrants to GITMO. US NAVY/AFP via Getty Images

The lawsuit was brought on behalf of family members of Gitmo detainees Luis Alberto Castillo, Yoiker David Sequera and Tilso Ramon Gomez Lugo. 

The Trump administration alleges that the three men have ties to Tren de Argua, the ruthless Venezuelan prison gang. 

Migrant GITMO detainees have been flown to the naval base in Cuba on military aircraft since Feb. 4. DHS / SWNS

The ACLU is seeking an order that would force the Trump administration to give attorneys in-person access to their clients as soon as possible and immediate video and telephone access in the meantime. 

The lawsuit argues that the lack of in-person access to lawyers is a violation of the migrants’ legal rights and a violation of the First Amendment rights of legal organizations. 



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