With all the fear-mongering of people fleeing the violence of Central America (mostly women and children, but yes, some men) - the so-called “caravan” — what if we treated these migrants the way we have in the past?
Guantanamo Bay has been used for many purposes over the 120-ish years that the U.S. has claimed it. Mostly as just a naval base, but most famously as a prison for persons that the U.S. believes don’t deserve either the protections of U.S. or international laws.
When I was at Gitmo, in 1994-1995, the base served a much different purpose: The United States helped people fleeing Cuba and Haiti to being the process of entering America as refugees. There was a lengthy screening process, of course- because with any large group of persons, there will be criminals, and there will be ongoing crimes.
Operation Sea Signal was a joint force action, with some U.N. support but mostly U.S. My Navy Seabee Battalion, NMCB-5, helped build camps and dining facilities for the more than 45,000 refugees. In short, Cubans who were able to get 1 mile or more off shore were picked up by the U.S. Coast Guard and transported to Gitmo. I’m not sure of the history behind the Haitian migration process. Once brought to Guantanamo, U.S. authorities began background checks that helped to weed out dangerous felons and other persons we did not want to admit to the U.S. But the vast majority of these people were granted legal residency.
Why can’t we work with the Mexican and Honduran governments to help solve the problems that make so many people feel the need to walk thousands of miles to flee, just so their families and children can be safe. Do we need to follow Trump’s decision to turn our country into a “shithole country” so they won’t want to come here?
There are many ways we can help these desperate families, including using Gitmo as a temporary station where the people can be screened for what the Republicans fear are criminal elements or worse, but also we can help ensure that children and other vulnerable persons are protected and can receive medical care. We can even work with nonprofit and religious organizations in this goal. The “bad hombres” can be removed- But the rest of the people, they obviously fit America’s long-standing tradition of welcoming people who travel at great risk to themselves, in order to flee horrendous conditions.