A group of legal aid organizations has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, seeking to ensure that migrants relocated to the Guantánamo Bay military base in Cuba have access to legal representation.
The lawsuit claims that immigrant detainees in the United States have the right to access counsel, emphasizing that these rights cannot be violated by relocating individuals to a location where legal access is restricted. This is the second legal challenge to the administration's policies regarding migrants, following a recent court ruling that blocked the transfer of three Venezuelan men from New Mexico to Guantánamo.
This new case is broader in scope and raises significant questions about the rights of detained immigrants when moved abroad. The organizations involved are requesting the court to allow immigration lawyers to access the migrants in person as soon as possible, and to provide remote access through video or telephone in the interim.
According to Lee Gelernt, a lawyer from the American Civil Liberties Union, this situation is unprecedented, as no previous administration has attempted to move immigrants from the U.S. to Guantánamo and prevent their access to legal counsel. He highlighted the severity of this action within the context of the administration's approach to the rule of law.
The Justice Department has yet to respond to requests for comment regarding the lawsuit. If the court orders access to lawyers, it would pose logistical challenges for the military, similar to those faced after the September 11 attacks when human rights lawyers were granted access to terrorism detainees at the base.
The Trump administration has not disclosed the names of the migrants at Guantánamo, leaving them incommunicado and unable to file lawsuits independently. The plaintiffs in the case include four immigrant advocacy organizations aiming to assist the migrants in pursuing legal action. Family members of the detained migrants have also joined the lawsuit, expressing concern for their relatives' well-being and access to legal counsel.
The lawsuit argues that the legal organizations and the family members have the standing to sue, as the detainees cannot file their own cases. It asserts that the Constitution guarantees detained immigrants facing deportation the right to legal counsel and that these rights cannot be rescinded by relocating them to a foreign facility.
The complaint includes claims that the migrants retain the right to challenge their indefinite detention through habeas corpus lawsuits and have a constitutional right to legal representation. Additionally, the legal organizations assert their First Amendment right to meet with individuals seeking representation.
On January 29, President Trump directed the military and the Department of Homeland Security to prepare an expansion of migrant operations at Guantánamo Bay for high-priority criminal aliens unlawfully present in the U.S. Following this, several migrants, all believed to be Venezuelans, were transported to the base.
While the Supreme Court has confirmed that Congress authorized wartime detention operations at Guantánamo, the legal basis for the Trump administration's actions in transferring migrants from U.S. soil to the overseas facility remains unclear.
Historically, the U.S. government has processed migrants picked up at sea at Guantánamo, but this marks the first instance of an administration relocating individuals already detained in the U.S. to an overseas facility while continuing their immigration detention.
In addition to the ACLU, the case is supported by lawyers from the Center for Constitutional Rights and the International Refugee Assistance Project.