WASHINGTON – The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on Wednesday seeking access to dozens of migrants flown to a U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, saying they were being denied the right to an attorney.
ACLU filed the complaint on behalf of families of detainees, who say the detainees themselves cannot sue because they are being held without the ability to communicate to the outside world. The suit seeks immediate phone and video access to detainees, as well as in-person visitation.
President Donald Trump, a Republican, kicked off a wide-ranging immigration crackdown after taking office on January 20, including the transfer of dozens of migrants to a detention site on Guantanamo Bay, which is best known for the separate high-security U.S. prison used for suspected foreign terrorists.
The lawsuit follows a letter sent by ACLU and other civil and immigrant rights groups to top Trump officials last week, demanding a way to speak to detainees.
“Shipping immigrants off to Guantanamo without access to lawyers or the outside world cannot be reconciled with our country’s laws or principles,” said Lee Gelernt, ACLU lawyer and lead counsel on the case. “It will now be up to the courts to reaffirm that the rule of law governs our nation.”
The Trump administration has provided few specifics about the detainees sent to Guantanamo Bay but said the first flight carried alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who visited the base on Friday, said in a social media post that some of the detainees had allegedly been charged or convicted of homicide, robbery and other crimes.
Trump said in late January that he would order U.S. military and Homeland Security officials to prepare the Guantanamo base to house up to 30,000 migrants as he moves to ramp up arrests and deportations.
(Reporting by Ted Hesson; Editing by Mary Milliken and Rod Nickel)
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