Trump migrant detentions at Guantanamo Bay cost $100,000 per person daily

21/5/2025 6:18

President Donald Trump's use of the Guantanamo Bay naval base to house migrants appears to cost $100,000 per day for each detainee, U.S. Senator Gary

Peters said during a hearing on Tuesday, decrying what he described as a prime example of wasteful government spending.



Peters, the top Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, questioned Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem about the high cost, far more than the $165 per day in U.S. immigration detention facilities. Peters also asked why detainees have been sent to the American naval

base in Cuba but then shuttled back to the United States at taxpayer expense.



"We're spending $100,000 a day to keep someone at Guantanamo," Peters said. "We keep them there awhile, then we fly them back to the United States, or we could keep them here for $165 a day. I think that's kind of outrageous."



The White House has requested a huge increase in funding for immigration enforcement as it tries to achieve Trump's goal of mass deportations. The administration asked Congress this month for an additional $44 billion for the Department of Homeland Security in fiscal year 2026, which begins on Oct. 1.