Hegseth: ‘Absolutely’ Gitmo Can House Trump’s Deported Migrants

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth claimed Wednesday that housing 30,000 deported migrants at Cuba’s Guantanamo Bay can “absolutely” be done—and be done “safely” until they’re sent to their “final location.” On Fox News , former Hegseth colleague Jesse Watters asked about Donald Trump ’s executive order earlier in the day mandating the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security get the ball rolling. “We actually can accommodate 30,000 criminal migrants in Gitmo?” Watters asked.

Hegseth’s reply was unequivocal. “We absolutely can, and we can plus that up very rapidly,” Hegseth said, before citing his experience on the island in the Army. “I served there.



I know exactly the places where this would happen. Guantanamo has long been a place for migrants. In fact in the ’90s, tens of thousands of Haitian and Cuban migrants [were] staged there as part of a crisis,” Hegseth said.

Between 2020 and 2023, only 37 migrants were held at Gitmo, according to The New York Times . “We have an even bigger crisis on our hands right now. It was mentioned 7,500 violent illegals have been captured by ICE in the last nine days,” Hegseth continued, referring to a Trump administration figure .

“I tell you what, no one is going to be waiting on the Defense Department,” Hegseth asserted. “We’re going to lean forward and make sure we stay on the border to protect it and that we have great tails, which are known as military aircraft, to help mass deportations. And Guantanamo Bay, Jesse, is a perfect spot.

” Later in the interview, Hegseth fully embraced Trump’s across-the-board cuts of federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs. “DEI will be ripped out of the [executive] branch because we want everyone treated equally with high standards and held accountable with lethality and readiness front and center,” he told Watters. “We don’t have time for emphasizing differences, Jesse.

One of the biggest, dumbest phrases in military history is ‘our diversity is our strength.’ Our diversity is not our strength,” Hegseth maintained. “Our unity in our shared purpose is our strength.

And the Pentagon is excited to get back to that core mission.”.