Pentagon spent at least $21 million on flights to Guantanamo, which currently holds 32 migrants
The Trump administration has spent at least $ 21 million on the transfer of migrants to the Gulf of Guantanamo on the military plane between January 20 and April 8, according to the numbers offered by the US military.
The naval base is currently there is 32 immigrants, according to the defense official, which is a small part of 30,000 President Donald Trump promised. Guantanamo has made a total of less than 500 immigrants since Trump announced the effort in January, and has never kept more than 200 at any time. It is believed that many of the migrants who were transferred there have been transferred to the United States
Democrats condemned Guantanamo’s effort as a “political trick” a waste of Trump, who in late January announced that migrants would be held at the Navy base, which includes the notorious detention facility. Two months after the start of the effort, Administration officials approved It was defective, logistical and legal and exposed to the administration.
Depending on the numbers of the trip provided to Congress, it has also proven that it is expensive. For example, the average cost per hour of a military plane flight was $ 26,277.
Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, denounced the use of American military assets and its employees in the mission.
“Every American Donald Trump must get angry at the military resources to pay the price of his political actions that do not make us safer,” Warren said. “American service members did not participate in the abuse of this power.”
Pentagon officials did not immediately respond to the request for comment.
The Ministry of Defense is preparing to increase capacity, as the US Transport Command recently requested an additional weekly trip to Guantanamo. This task, which is officially called the “Southern Guard Operation”, headed by the Ministry of Internal Security and includes officials of the enforcement of immigration and customs, as well as the army.
Between January 20 and April 8, the US military flew 46 flights that carried immigrants on military aircraft. They lasted 802.5 hours, at a cost of about 21,087,300 dollars, according to the information provided by the Pentagon in response to questions from Warren.
Between January 20 and March 25, the Pentagon made 31 military flights and contracts that carried employees, equipment and supplies to Guantanamo. They transported 715 travelers and 1016.9 tons of goods.
The contracts contracting with passengers and goods cost $ 1,671,500, including more than $ 660,000 paid to United Airlines and about $ 500,000 paid to Omni Air International, a rented company in Tolsa, Oklahoma. None of these contracting trips in the field of migrant trips succeeded, according to the information provided to Congress.
