Pentagon spends over $21 million on migrant flights to Cuba

The Trump administration spent more than $21 million transporting migrants to Cuba’s Guantánamo Bay between January 20 and April 8, according to new figures from the Pentagon.

The data, provided to Congress, shows that the US military conducted 46 migrant transport flights during that period, totalling 802.5 flight hours. With an average cost of $26,277 per flight hour, the total expense reached approximately $21.1 million, Caliber.Az reports via US-based media. 

The Guantánamo effort, formally known as Operation Southern Guard, is led by the Department of Homeland Security in coordination with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the US military. The naval base there currently holds 32 migrants, according to a defence official, a tiny fraction of the 30,000 that President Donald Trump promised. Since its launch in January, fewer than 500 migrants have passed through Guantánamo, and the facility has never held more than 200 at one time. Many of those initially flown to the base were later returned to the US.

Critics have slammed the initiative as costly and ineffective. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, called the operation a “political stunt” by Trump. 

“Every American should be outraged by Donald Trump wasting military resources to pay for his political stunts that do not make us safer,” Warren said. “US service members did not sign up for this abuse of power.”

In addition to the migrant flights, the Pentagon also conducted 31 military and contracted flights between January 20 and March 25 to transport personnel, equipment, and supplies to Guantánamo. These flights carried 715 passengers and more than 1,000 tons of cargo, at a cost of nearly $1.7 million. Contractors included United Airlines, which was paid over $660,000, and Omni Air International, which received nearly $500,000. Officials confirmed these flights did not carry any migrants.

Despite questions over the program’s effectiveness, the Department of Defence is preparing to increase capacity. US Transportation Command has ordered an additional weekly flight to Guantánamo.

By Sabina Mammadli