In a recent press conference, President Trump announced plans for a 30,000-bed detention facility in Guantanamo Bay for migrants, echoing past policies of the 1980s. This plan raises concerns about its feasibility and parallels to the stalled border wall project. Historically, the arrival of Caribbean and Central American refugees has often led to increased criminalization and stigma associated with migrants, particularly Haitians and Cubans. This trend continues as government responses involve harsher laws, increased detention, and intensified surveillance along borders. The proposal reflects a longstanding approach towards migration issues in the U.S.
Both Haitian and Cuban migrants in particular were quickly associated with crime in the public consciousness, with the former group-similar to today's migrants-suffering the greatest stigma.
In the 1980s a great number of unauthorized immigrants from Caribbean and Central American countries began arriving in the United States. Pushed out by civil war, economic destitution, and political repression.
The government responded by passing laws that criminalized migrants more heavily, by increasing the use of detention, and by fortifying and surveilling the border.
Like the border wall, building a detention center for migrants in Guantanamo Bay is nothing new.
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