Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem did not rule out the possibility of using Guantanamo Bay in the Trump administration’s effort to combat illegal immigration, describing it as “an asset” that is being considered.
Noem detailed how the administration is actively working on keeping President Donald Trump’s campaign promise to deport illegal immigrants, citing Secretary of State Marco Rubio‘s negotiating with other countries in the process of returning them. In a new interview, Noem was asked if the Trump administration is ruling out using the Guantanamo Bay detention camps, to which she said the administration is “evaluating.”
“We’re evaluating and talking about that right now,” Noem said on Fox News’s Fox and Friends. “It’s the president’s decision, but it’s an asset, and we’re going to continue to look at how we can use all of our assets to keep America safe.”
Noem also detailed DHS’s recent action to end the extension of temporary protected status for Venezuelans, which former Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas had signed before Trump’s inauguration and would have allowed Venezuelan migrants to remain in the country for another 18 months. Noem said the department would not follow through with Mayorkas’s attempt to “tie our hands,” as Venezuelan gangs such as Tren de Aragua have been a major concern for the Trump administration.
“Listen, I was in New York City yesterday, and the people of this country want these dirtbags out,” Noem said. “They want their communities to be safe. It was so amazing to me to see people walk by on the street early in the morning and just say, ‘Thank you, thank you for being here.’”
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Trump will sign the Laken Riley Act into law on Wednesday. The bill, named after a woman who was killed by an illegal immigrant from Venezuela in 2024, passed in the House last week with a vote of 263-156 with bipartisan support of 46 Democrats.
On Sunday, Colombian President Gustavo Petro attempted to turn away two flights of Colombian nationals who had been in the United States illegally, prompting Trump to threaten the country with tariffs on all imported goods. Petro agreed to the “unrestricted acceptance” of all Colombian migrants “without limitation or delay” only hours later.