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The predictable, horrific conditions at Guantánamo
Here’s what a new investigation tells us.
Patrick Reis was the senior politics and ideas editor at Vox. He previously worked at Rolling Stone, the Washington Post, Politico, National Journal, and Seattle’s Real Change News. As a reporter and editor, he has worked on coverage of campaign politics, economic policy, the federal death penalty, climate change, financial regulation, and homelessness.
Welcome to The Logoff. Today I’m focusing on revelations of migrant mistreatment at Guantánamo Bay, an ominous development as the Trump administration ramps up the civic machinery of mass deportation.
What’s happening at Guantánamo? The administration housed nearly 180 migrants there for weeks before they were deported to Venezuela on Thursday. A report today from the Washington Post revealed horrific conditions while they were there. The reports, based on interviews with migrants released in Venezuela, reveal:
- Detainees housed in solitary confinement, going outside only twice in a two-week period;
- “Humiliating and invasive strip searches”;
- Multiple suicide attempts, including one man who swallowed screws and another who attempted to slit his wrists with sharpened plastic bottles.
Administration officials have said the military prison would house the “worst of the worst” criminals, but among the migrants the Post interviewed, their only known criminal act was crossing the border illegally.
On Sunday, the administration flew 17 additional migrants to Guantanamo, the New York Times reported.
What’s next? President Donald Trump has ordered his team to prepare to house up to 30,000 migrants at Guantánamo, but the plan is running into roadblocks. CNN reported Monday that the base had paused plans to house migrants in tents because they lack the air conditioning and electricity needed to meet detention standards.
What’s the big picture? When Trump announced his Guantánamo plan, administration officials said fears of mistreatment at military facilities were misplaced. Now, with only a fraction of the planned number of detainees housed at the base, the Post’s report suggests that mistreatment has already occurred.
NPR reported Monday that the administration is now laying the groundwork to house undocumented immigrants in military bases around the country.
And with that, it’s time to log off …
All this is deeply distressing, and it would be easy to sink into doomscrolling. But that does nothing for anyone. And so, might I suggest a podcast instead — perhaps even a podcast and a trip outside into the budding spring weather? I really enjoyed this report from The Atlantic on a time when modern humans and neanderthals lived side by side, a phenomenon that occurred way more recently than I would have expected. Take good care today. See you back here tomorrow.
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