Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Sunday that President Trump does not plan to hold illegal immigrants indefinitely at the naval detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Mr. Trump announced last week he plans to sign an order directing the government to expand the detention center at Guantanamo Bay to hold up to 30,000 of the migrants rounded up in his mass deportation effort.

“That is not the plan,” Ms. Noem said after she was asked if some detainees would be held indefinitely on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “The plan is to have a process that we follow that’s laid out in law and make sure that we’re dealing with these individuals appropriately according to what the state and the national laws direct.”

“So we will work with Congress to make sure that we’re addressing our legal immigration laws and using Guantanamo Bay appropriately. But it is an asset that we have that we fully intend to utilize,” she said.

Mr. Trump said he plans to hold “the worst of the worst” in Guantanamo until they are returned to their home countries.

“The priority of this president is to go after criminal aliens that are making our streets more dangerous,” Ms. Noem said.

• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.