Soldiers and Marines were sent to Naval Station Guantanamo Bay over the weekend to support "holding operations" amid President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown and plans to use the installation for detention of migrants who entered the U.S. illegally.
There were 310 service members at Guantanamo Bay supporting the detention mission as of Monday, a spokesperson for U.S. Southern Command told Military.com. Among them, 170 Marines, including those from 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment -- an infantry unit -- began arriving at the installation on Saturday via military aircraft to set up tents, cots "and other holding area logistics" to support the Department of Homeland Security, said the spokesperson, who provided information on the condition their name not be used.
They were joined by personnel from U.S. Southern Command and U.S. Army South, though the spokesperson did not provide numbers of how many personnel came from each of those entities. When asked how long the service members can expect to be at Guantanamo, the spokesperson said that "mass migration is unpredictable, and the extent of U.S. military support will be determined as events unfold."
Read Next: Army Set to Dramatically Grow Basic Training, Riding Recruiting High
The weekend mobilization of troops is the latest move in the Trump administration's effort to halt immigration at the southern border and conduct what he has described is the largest domestic migrant deportation operation in U.S. history.
Last week, Trump announced that "we have 30,000 beds in Guantanamo to detain the worst criminal aliens threatening the American people." The White House and Pentagon have so far not provided any details on who will be detained at Guantanamo or what legal rights they will be afforded. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Sunday that migrants will be given "due process" without elaborating, and she refused to rule out detention of women and children.
Plans to expand the Guantanamo Bay installation -- which is reported to previously hold well short of the number of migrants signalled to be sent there -- were unclear Monday. While migrants have been held there under previous administrations, the base's prison is most well-known for holding terrorist suspects connected to the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. since 2002.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Guantanamo Bay is the "perfect place to provide for migrants who are traveling out of our country ... but also hardened criminals," he said Monday during his trip to the border. "How about a maximum security prison at Guantanamo Bay where we have the space?"
It was not clear whether Hegseth was referring to the Migrant Operations Center that was named in Trump's executive order or the high-security detention camp, located miles away, that is still being used to house the suspected terrorists, including the alleged mastermind of 9/11.
The number of service members ultimately being sent to the installation was also unclear. The Associated Press reported that the Pentagon was planning to send up to 500 Marines to Guantanamo Bay, citing unnamed defense officials.
"The number of service members will continue to fluctuate as additional forces are tasked to deploy and will be scaled based on the requirements of the Department of Homeland Security, which is the lead federal agency," the U.S. Southern Command spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said the tents and cots that are currently being set up by service members at Guantanamo Bay are for migrants who will be detained there.
Speaking to local media over the weekend, Marine 1st Sgt. Johnny Stone, who mobilized to Guantanamo Bay over the weekend from Cherry Point, North Carolina, told reporters that "this is what we train for. At a moment's notice, we get the call; like I said, we were in the field training for something like this, and it happened. We stay ready, and we're ready to go and here we are."
When asked whether the Marines deployed to Guantanamo Bay will be participating in law enforcement or migrant detention duties, the spokesperson said DHS "is the lead federal agency responsible for irregular migration operations at Naval Station Guantanamo."
One defense official was able to say that the Marines would be setting up cots and tents, but that was the extent of their knowledge. This official could not say how many tents were planned to be set up or where exactly they would be located within the 45-square-mile installation.
On Monday, some officials -- like those who represent the Navy -- were unable to speak to the Marines' mission, though it was occurring on a base the service owns and manages.
Related: Inside the Military's Scramble to Move Troops to the Mexico Border
