Luna Gutierrez v. Noem: Stopping the offshore detention of immigrants at Guantánamo Bay

IRAP and partner organizations filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s detention of immigrants at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba—an unprecedented and unlawful expansion of offshore immigration enforcement—arguing that the use of Guantánamo for immigration detention violates the Immigration and Nationality Act, basic constitutional protections, and the Administrative Procedure Act. Immigrants detained at Guantánamo report punitive conditions, extreme isolation, and a lack of access to legal and medical resources—conditions that echo the base’s long and troubling record of human rights abuses.

Our clients

The plaintiffs in this case are individuals who came to the United States seeking refuge and were later ordered removed. Rather than detaining them in facilities within the United States, the government transferred them and hundreds of others to Guantánamo Bay—marking the first time the facility has been used for civil immigration detention. There, they have been subjected to restrictive conditions and denied basic necessities. The government has even transferred immigrants it has deemed “low risk” to Guantánamo, and many immigrants have been held in Camp 6, a facility formerly used for high-security law-of-war detainees. The plaintiffs bring this case as a proposed class action and seek to represent a class of all immigrants detained at Guantánamo. 

Impact

This case seeks to end the government’s unlawful policy of transferring immigrants from the United States to detention at Guantánamo Bay.

Case status

• June 4, 2025: Case is filed. Plaintiffs file a motion to certify as a class all immigration detainees held in Guantánamo Bay who were originally apprehended and detained in the Unites States.
• August 4, 2025: The government file a motion to dismiss.
• August 27, 2025: Plaintiffs file an opposition to the government’s motion to dismiss.
• December 5, 2025:  Victory! The court denies the government’s motion to dismiss and grants class certification, finding that this case can be brought on behalf of immigration detainees originally apprehended and detained in the United States who have been ordered removed, except those who were subject to expedited removal (see 8 U.S.C. § 1225), and who are or will be held at Guantánamo.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights are co-counsel in this case.