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Immigration Without Due Process
Guantanamo Detention Waste

Trump's 30,000-Detainee Guantanamo Plan Wasted $2.85 Million on Tents That Never Housed Anyone

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Chapter 1 — The Tents Went Up, Then Came Down Unused

Chapter 2 — Taxpayers Paid for a Small Operation With Heavy Support Costs

Chapter 3 — The Remedy Was Still a Promise to Plan

1 · The Tents Went Up, Then Came Down Unused

1 · The Tents Went Up, Then Came Down Unused — select a subtopic

1.1 — Trump's Order, 30,000 Beds, and Unusable Tents

1 · The Tents Went Up, Then Came Down Unused
1.1 · The Tents Went Up, Then Came Down Unused
Trump's Order, 30,000 Beds, and Unusable Tents

Trump ordered the expansion of migrant detention at Guantanamo and announced plans for 30,000 detainees. Defense spent about $2.85 million setting up tents for an initial 5,000 beds. DHS determined that the tents failed detention standards, and they came down without housing anyone.

GAO-26-108663, Immigration Detention: Urgent Planning Needed to Avoid Further Waste of Taxpayer Dollars, page 7

Changing plans and high operating costs have resulted in incurring unnecessary costs, which resulted in waste at Guantanamo Bay.

U.S. Government Accountability Office · September 24, 2026

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Sources
[1]Donald J. Trump, Memorandum on Expanding Migrant Operations Center at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay to Full Capacity (January 29, 2025), White House publication
[2]Matthew Olay, DOD News, Defense Secretary Affirms Commitment to Border Security, Plan to House Migrants at Guantanamo Bay (January 29, 2025), archived January 25, 2026
[3]U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO-26-108663, Immigration Detention: Urgent Planning Needed to Avoid Further Waste of Taxpayer Dollars (September 24, 2026), especially pages 4, 6-8, 11-13
[4]Defense and State Offices of Inspector General, Lead Inspector General Report to the United States Congress: Operation Southern Guard, July 1-December 31, 2025 (reporting period July 1-December 31, 2025), especially pages 6-9, 16-19 and methodology page 22
[5]U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO-26-108437, Southern Border Security: DOD Used Multiple Strategies to Fund Operations (July 13, 2026), Operation Southern Guard discussion, Appendix I and note 11
[6]Donald J. Trump, Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion (January 20, 2025), section 10, White House publication

2 · Taxpayers Paid for a Small Operation With Heavy Support Costs

2 · Taxpayers Paid for a Small Operation With Heavy Support Costs — select a subtopic

2.1 — Tens of Millions in Commitments, and Costly Flights

2.2 — A Transit Mission Had Real Use, but the Expansion Failed

2 · Taxpayers Paid for a Small Operation With Heavy Support Costs
2.1 · Taxpayers Paid for a Small Operation With Heavy Support Costs
Tens of Millions in Commitments, and Costly Flights

Flight cancellations wasted military planning time, and detention demands delayed routine maintenance at Guantanamo. Defense committed about $68 million through May 31, 2026, and ICE about $43 million through June 30, 2026. Those commitments covered starting and running the operation, and DHS was to repay Defense for fiscal 2026 support. GAO found waste from changing plans and high operating costs, including about $2.85 million spent setting up unused tents; it did not quantify the total waste.

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Sources
[3]U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO-26-108663, Immigration Detention: Urgent Planning Needed to Avoid Further Waste of Taxpayer Dollars (September 24, 2026), especially pages 4, 6-8, 11-13
[4]Defense and State Offices of Inspector General, Lead Inspector General Report to the United States Congress: Operation Southern Guard, July 1-December 31, 2025 (reporting period July 1-December 31, 2025), especially pages 6-9, 16-19 and methodology page 22
[5]U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO-26-108437, Southern Border Security: DOD Used Multiple Strategies to Fund Operations (July 13, 2026), Operation Southern Guard discussion, Appendix I and note 11
2.2 · Taxpayers Paid for a Small Operation With Heavy Support Costs
A Transit Mission Had Real Use, but the Expansion Failed

Hegseth defended Guantanamo as a safe, temporary transit point. DHS reported 708 arrivals by the end of December 2025, with 691 transferred to U.S. facilities or repatriated and an average stay of 14 days; a hurricane and a shutdown interrupted use. That explains some of the low occupancy, but the tents housed nobody and the 30,000-person plan was deemed infeasible.

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Sources
[2]Matthew Olay, DOD News, Defense Secretary Affirms Commitment to Border Security, Plan to House Migrants at Guantanamo Bay (January 29, 2025), archived January 25, 2026
[3]U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO-26-108663, Immigration Detention: Urgent Planning Needed to Avoid Further Waste of Taxpayer Dollars (September 24, 2026), especially pages 4, 6-8, 11-13
[4]Defense and State Offices of Inspector General, Lead Inspector General Report to the United States Congress: Operation Southern Guard, July 1-December 31, 2025 (reporting period July 1-December 31, 2025), especially pages 6-9, 16-19 and methodology page 22

3 · The Remedy Was Still a Promise to Plan

3 · The Remedy Was Still a Promise to Plan — select a subtopic

3.1 — Spending First, Planning Later

3 · The Remedy Was Still a Promise to Plan
3.1 · The Remedy Was Still a Promise to Plan
Spending First, Planning Later

GAO found that ICE had not compared high-cost facilities such as Guantanamo with cheaper detention options, and it documented waste in ICE's warehouse purchases too. DHS agreed to develop a strategic plan, with estimated completion on August 31, 2027; GAO listed the recommendation as open on October 1, 2026. Trump's order produced an infeasible expansion and documented waste, with the planning remedy left for the future.

Read the full chapter — all the detail, fully footnoted →

Sources
[1]Donald J. Trump, Memorandum on Expanding Migrant Operations Center at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay to Full Capacity (January 29, 2025), White House publication
[2]Matthew Olay, DOD News, Defense Secretary Affirms Commitment to Border Security, Plan to House Migrants at Guantanamo Bay (January 29, 2025), archived January 25, 2026
[3]U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO-26-108663, Immigration Detention: Urgent Planning Needed to Avoid Further Waste of Taxpayer Dollars (September 24, 2026), especially pages 4, 6-8, 11-13
[4]Defense and State Offices of Inspector General, Lead Inspector General Report to the United States Congress: Operation Southern Guard, July 1-December 31, 2025 (reporting period July 1-December 31, 2025), especially pages 6-9, 16-19 and methodology page 22
[7]DHS Departmental Audit Liaison Office, management response dated September 15, 2026, reproduced as accessible text in GAO-26-108663, pages 18-19
[8]U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO-26-108663 recommendation-status page, archived October 1, 2026

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