A Jamaican man is among a group of convicted foreign nationals now being detained at Guantanamo Bay, following an order by U.S. President Donald J. Trump to expand the use of the military facility to hold what the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) calls the “worst of the worst” criminal illegal aliens.
Eric Gresford Miller, an illegal alien from Jamaica convicted of aggravated assault with a gun, is among several Caribbean and Latin American nationals whose names were released Tuesday by DHS. The list includes individuals from Honduras, El Salvador, Colombia, and Venezuela being held at the U.S. Naval base in Cuba — but DHS emphasized this is only a partial list of detainees.
In a statement announcing the development, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the U.S. government was ramping up its crackdown on violent criminal migrants.
“We’re arresting criminal illegal aliens and getting them off America’s streets. Guantanamo Bay is holding the worst of the worst including child predators, rapists and murderers,” said McLaughlin. “Whether it is CECOT, Alligator Alcatraz, Guantanamo Bay or another detention facility, these dangerous criminals will not be allowed to terrorize U.S. citizens. President Trump and Secretary Noem are using every tool available to get criminal illegal aliens off our streets and out of our country. Our message is clear: Criminals are not welcome in the United States.”
According to DHS, all of the detainees listed are convicted criminals with final orders of removal issued by an immigration judge.
The individuals include Franklin Almendarez-Alvarez of Honduras, convicted of lewd acts with a minor; Ramiro Villanueva of Colombia, convicted of cocaine smuggling; and Larry Medina of Venezuela, convicted of sexual assault.
The move follows President Trump’s January 29 executive order titled Expanding Migrant Operations Center at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay to Full Capacity, which directed DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to increase detention space for high-priority criminal aliens.
The U.S. wants to center to house up to 30,000 migrants under detention, separate from the military prison. The migrant facility will be run by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Miller’s name is the only one from Jamaica and the wider Caribbean listed in the release.
The DHS release did not specify when the individuals were transferred to Guantanamo Bay or how long they would be held.
The full list includes nationals from Guatemala, Vietnam, China, India, Romania, Liberia, the United Kingdom, and other countries.
