FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 30, 2025
CONTACT: Rev. T.C. Morrow,
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and 202-547-1920
NRCAT Denounces Expansion of Immigration Detention at Guantánamo
WASHINGTON, DC - In response to the January 29th memorandum from President Trump on “Expanding Migrant Operations Center at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay to Full Capacity”, Rev. Ron Stief, Executive Director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, released the following statement:
“We’re deeply troubled by President Trump's directive to expand the Migrant Operations Center at the U.S. Navy base at Guantánamo Bay “to full capacity,” with mention of building a capacity for 30,000 immigrants. Guantánamo remains a symbol of torture the world over. The Trump Administration’s characterization of migrants in the U.S. as a threat so severe it warrants such measures comes from the same playbook we’ve seen used in the past to justify torture. Whether a scare tactic directed at current or future immigrants or an attempt to allow the indefinite detention of tens of thousands of people, this directive aims to carry out a form of large-scale cruelty rooted in racism and xenophobia that degrades the soul of this nation.
The Migrant Operations Center is separate from the ongoing post-9/11 military prison where 780 Muslim men were held, and 15 men remain to this day 23 years later. Nearly all of the 780 men were never charged with a crime, and the moral stain of “Guantánamo” lingers as the base has been historically used by the U.S. government in a crass attempt to avoid the rule of law.
The shared mission of our more than 300 religious member organizations is to end torture in U.S. policy, practice, and culture. The National Religious Campaign Against Torture will continue to work with our members and partners to ensure the U.S. upholds human rights and does not engage in torture, abuse, and indefinite detention.”
This memo directing expansion of the Migrant Operations Center at Guantánamo came on the heels of the Presidential signature of the “Laken Riley Act.” With colleagues in the Federal Anti-Solitary Taskforce, the National Religious Campaign Against Torture issued a statement condemning the enactment of the law, which includes:
“Rather than promoting safety and accountability, the actions of this administration have been cruel and self-serving, and will perpetuate cycles of suffering and injustice that affect our country's most vulnerable populations, including by expanding the use of torture through solitary confinement and other abusive carceral practices, separating and devastating families and communities, and caging and deporting massive numbers of people.”
The National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) is a membership organization committed to ending U.S.-sponsored torture, and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Since its formation in January 2006, more than 300 religious organizations have joined NRCAT, including representatives from the Catholic, evangelical Christian, mainline Protestant, Unitarian Universalist, Quaker, Orthodox Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Baha’i, Buddhist, and Sikh communities. Members include national denominations and faith groups, regional organizations and local congregations.
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