NBC News: Pentagon spent at least $21 million on flights to Guantanamo, which currently holds 32 migrants

The Trump administration spent at least $21 million transporting migrants to Guantanamo Bay on military aircraft between January 20 and April 8, according to figures provided to Congress by the U.S. military.

The naval base there currently holds 32 migrants, according to a defense official, a tiny fraction of the 30,000 that President Donald Trump promised. Guantanamo has held a total of just under 500 migrants since Trump announced the effort in January, and it has never held more than 200 at any one time. Many of the migrants flown there are believed to have been flown back to the U.S.

Democrats condemned the Guantanamo effort as a wasteful “political stunt” by Trump, who announced in late January that migrants would be held at the navy base, which houses the notorious detention facility. Two months after the effort began, administration officials acknowledged that it was logistically and legally flawed and beset by administration infighting. 

Based on the flight figures provided to Congress, it has also proven costly. The average cost per flight hour for the military aircraft, for example, has been $26,277.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, denounced the use of U.S. military assets and personnel for the mission.

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Read the full article here.

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