Trump orders Guantanamo prison to remain open

President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered the controversial U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to remain open.

Trump announced the executive order, initially reported by POLITICO, during his first State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress. It directs the prison stay open and allows the possibility Trump could send new enemy combatants there.


"I just signed, prior to walking in, an order directing [Defense] Secretary [Jim] Mattis ... to re-examine our military detention policy and to keep open the detention facilities in Guantanamo Bay," Trump said.

Trump's initiative repeals part of an executive order, signed by then-President Barack Obama in his first days in office, that calls for Guantanamo's closure. It also directs detention operations to continue and permits additional detainees to be sent to the prison "when lawful and necessary to protect" the country.

The executive order also gives Mattis three months to recommend policies for holding individuals captured in armed conflict, including policies for transferring detainees to Guantanamo Bay.

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"Terrorists who do things like place bombs in civilian hospitals are evil. When possible, we have no choice but to annihilate them. When necessary, we must be able to detain and question them," Trump said. "But we must be clear: Terrorists are not merely criminals, they are unlawful enemy combatants."

Proponents of the military prison contend the detainees held there are too dangerous to send abroad or hold in U.S. prisons and that the facility is an effective tool to gain information from terrorists.

But critics argue the prison is expensive, unnecessary and serves as a recruiting tool for terrorists. The move is also a jab at the legacy of the Obama administration, which tried to shutter the prison for eight years without success — and was immediately decried by the American Civil Liberties Union.

"For more than a decade, Presidents [George W.] Bush and Obama tried to transfer people out responsibly, but Trump is reversing course," said Hina Shamsi, director of ACLU's National Security Project, in a statement. "In trying to give new life to a prison that symbolizes America's descent into torture and unlawful indefinite detention, Trump will not make this country any safer."

Obama attempted to close the prison but was repeatedly blocked. So, in lieu of shuttering the prison and transferring detainees to the U.S., the Obama administration moved dozens of cleared detainees to foreign countries, gradually winnowing down the prisoner population.

During his presidential campaign and since taking office, Trump has expressed openness to sending new enemy combatants to Guantanamo. And he repeated that sentiment again during Tuesday night's speech.

"I am asking Congress to ensure that in the fight against ISIS and Al Qaeda, we continue to have all necessary power to detain terrorists wherever we chase them down, wherever we find them," Trump said. "And in many cases for them it will now be Guantanamo Bay."