In a surprising move, President Donald Trump has ordered the federal government to get the US Naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, ready to hold up to 30,000 migrants. The plan, outlined in a signed memorandum, aims to create additional detention space for what the administration calls “high-priority criminal aliens” currently in the US.

“Most people don’t even know about it,” Trump said during a White House address. “We have 30,000 beds in Guantanamo to detain the worst criminal illegal aliens threatening the American people. This will double our capacity immediately.”

The announcement came just before Trump signed the Laken Riley Act, a new law requiring the detention of undocumented migrants charged with certain crimes. The legislation, passed earlier this month with bipartisan support, marks a significant win for the president’s immigration agenda. “Today’s signings bring us one step closer to eradicating the scourge of migrant crime in our communities once and for all,” Trump added.

According to sources close to the administration, the expanded migrant detention facility would be managed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). “We’re just going to expand upon existing migrant centers,” said border czar Tom Homan, noting that operations would be overseen from Miami.

However, not everyone is convinced the plan is feasible. A US official told reporters that the Guantanamo Bay facilities are nowhere near ready to house such a large number of people. “There’s no way there’s 30,000 beds anymore,” the official said, explaining that while the capacity existed in the 1990s, it no longer does. “If they sent a lot of migrants there, they would need a lot more staff to manage them. They couldn’t do it with what they’ve got now, no way.”

The Cuban government has also slammed the proposal, calling it an “act of brutality.” In a statement on social media, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel criticized the plan to detain migrants “next to the well-known prisons of torture and illegal detention” at Guantanamo Bay.

While the base is primarily known for its detention of terrorism suspects, it has also been used to process migrants in the past. The Biden administration, for instance, considered using Guantanamo to handle Haitian migrants fleeing deteriorating conditions in their homeland.

As the debate continues, one thing is clear: Trump’s plan has stirred strong reactions—and raised serious questions about its practicality. Stay tuned as this story develops.