Trump Planning To Keep Guantanamo Open

Jan. 26--President Trump is planning to keep the detention center at Guantanamo Bay open with an executive order that will reverse his predecessor's directive, according to a report.

Trump is expected to make an announcement about his plans sometime next week, according to Politico.

Trump, who campaigned as the "law and order candidate," has repeatedly attacked the legacy of former President Barack Obama, who signed an executive order to shutter the facility in 2009.

Despite a concerted effort during his last year in office, Obama did not fulfill his promise of closing the detention center, where 41 detainees remain. Nearly 200 were transferred or resettled in foreign countries under Obama.

While Trump vowed to "load it up with bad dudes," a draft of a State Department cable obtained by Politico indicates the executive order may be more of a symbolic move.

A draft of the cable, which will be sent to U.S. embassies around the world, states, "The E.O. does not signal a significant policy shift with respect to detentions."

"Rather, it affirms Guantanamo Bay will continue to remain open and serve as one of several options the United States maintains for the detention of terrorists."

In the days before inauguration, Trump tweeted, "There should be no further releases from Gitmo. These are extremely dangerous people and should not be allowed back onto the battlefield."

No prisoners have been released or transferred in his first year of office, and 11 detainees filed a legal complaint arguing that the apparent policy amounts to arbitrary "perpetual detention" that violates both the Constitution and acts of Congress establishing the rights of those held at Guantanamo.

The filing notes that President George W. Bush and Obama together released nearly 750 men by making case by case determinations on individual detainees.

With News Wire Services

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