Stop ICE From Sending Immigrants to Guantanamo

ICE is sending immigrants arrested in American communities to Guantanamo — and Adam Abdullah’s newly revealed case shows how quickly someone can be swept from an ordinary life in Minnesota into a remote military prison.

Abdullah came to the United States seeking asylum. He received a work permit and Social Security number, worked as an auto mechanic, and regularly checked in with ICE. MPR News found no criminal record for him beyond two parking tickets. Yet ICE arrested him, moved him through detention centers, shackled him, and flew him to the notorious military prison at Guantanamo Bay.

Now Abdullah is thousands of miles from his community and his lawyer. His attorney says their calls are extremely short and may not even be confidential, making it harder for Abdullah to understand his case, challenge his detention, and exercise basic legal rights.

Tell the Department of Homeland Security and ICE: Stop sending immigrants detained in the United States to Guantanamo Bay. Bring those held there back to the United States and guarantee meaningful, confidential access to their lawyers.

Guantanamo should not become America’s offshore immigration jail.

The administration has tried to justify Guantanamo transfers by portraying detainees sent there as dangerous criminals. But DHS has not publicly explained why Abdullah was sent there. If someone with no criminal record can be taken from Minnesota and transported to a remote military prison, the public deserves to know how far this policy could go.

Using Guantanamo for immigration detention is a choice. DHS can stop these transfers. Legal challenges to the policy are already moving forward, and public pressure can raise the cost of continuing a system designed to isolate immigrants from their families, attorneys, journalists, and public scrutiny.

Due process should not disappear because ICE puts someone on a plane. Immigration enforcement does not justify sending people beyond the reach of ordinary legal access and public accountability.

Add your name now and demand that DHS shut down this offshore detention pipeline, stop sending immigrants to Guantanamo, and bring those already held there back to the United States.

The petition to the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement reads:

“Immediately stop transferring immigrants detained in the United States to Guantanamo Bay, return those currently held there to the United States, and guarantee meaningful, confidential access to legal counsel.”