Mass deportations from the US increase the number of migrants held in Guantanamo Bay

The U.S. military already holds about 68 people in its prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as part of efforts to help the Department of Homeland Security with mass deportations.

The commander of U.S. Southern Command, which oversees the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, briefed lawmakers wednesday on the updated figure but said he could not yet provide details on how much it will cost to host a growing number of individuals.

Admiral Alvin Holsey said those efforts include detaining individuals described by Department of Homeland Security officials as "high-risk criminal aliens" and continuing the detention of up to 30,000 nonviolent migrants scheduled for deportation.

"We are taking a phased approach," Admiral Holsey told members of the Senate Armed Forces Committee, adding that the base now has the capacity to hold about 2,500 nonviolent migrants.

"We are working with the Department of Homeland Security to understand the influx of migrants," he said. "We're not going to get to 30,000 if we don't know that this is going to be the influx of migrants coming in. We were waiting for him at this point."

The U.S. military's Transportation Command told VOA on Monday that there have been at least five migrant flights to Guantanamo Bay, with C-17 or C-130 military transport aircraft.

Most flights, according to some officials, have had 10-15 detainees.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who visited the prison last Friday and oversaw the transfer on a third flight of detainees to the detention center, has repeatedly described them as "murderers and wild gang members" from Venezuela and as "the worst of the worst."

In a post on social media, Secretary Noem said at least one of the migrants sent to Guantanamo Bay had confessed to the murder, while others were on the run for attempted murder, physical assault, arms trafficking and other criminal offenses.

An official, speaking to VOA on condition of anonymity, said all individuals held at Guantanamo Bay had been given a final deportation order. But the Department of Security has not made available documents with the charges or other details about the crimes that the arrestees are accused of committing.

On Wednesday, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), along with several immigration rights groups, filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security, alleging that detainees held at Guantanamo Bay detention center were irregularly denied access to lawyers.

"By sending migrants to a remote island cut off from lawyers, family and the rest of the world, the Trump administration is giving its clearest signal that the rule of law means nothing to him," said Lee Gelernt, chief legal officer for the ACLU.

"It will now be up to the courts to reaffirm that the rule of law governs our country," he added.

According to the ACLU and other organizations, one of the plaintiffs, Eucaris Carolina Gomez Lugo, learned that her brother had been sent to Guantanamo Bay only after seeing him in a photo.

The organisation also said it was shocked to learn the government was claiming he was a member of venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

The Department of Homeland Security dismissed the lawsuit's claims.

"There is a system in place for using the phone to contact lawyers," a senior Department of Homeland Security official said in a written statement to VOA.

"If the U.S. Civil Liberties Union cares more about highly dangerous criminal aliens, including murderers and wild gang members, than they do about U.S. citizens, they should change their name," the official added, responding to the lawsuit, on condition of anonymity.