Trump intends to temporarily transfer thousands of illegal immigrants to Guantanamo, pending repatriation, including Italians who have overstayed their visas

FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT

LOS ANGELES - The Trump administration intends to temporarily transfer to Guantanamo thousands of foreigners - potentially 9,000 - who are in the United States illegally, the Washington Post writes.

The foreigners include citizens of allied countries including Italy, Britain, France, Germany, Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Poland, Turkey and Ukraine, but also other countries, including many from Haiti. The news is accompanied by the newspaper's observation that allied countries will not necessarily be notified by the United States.

Washington sources tell Corriere that these are foreigners who have overstayed their visas and who would be sent temporarily, pending repatriation, to the Migrant Operations Center in Guantanamo, where Cubans arriving by sea have been detained in the past. The plan could start as early as this week and involves the people in question undergoing a medical examination to assess whether they are healthy enough to be sent to Guantanamo.

Meanwhile, the Italian Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, declared during an interview with Rtl, that tomorrow afternoon I will have a phone call with US Secretary of State Rubio and I will try to get further clarifications. But we will do everything we can to ensure that no Italians are taken to Guantanamo .

According to parliamentary sources, there are two irregular Italians destined for the island. One of the two seems to have already been repatriated a few days ago, while the second could be expelled soon.

But in reality, shortly after comes the reassurance from Washington. No Italian citizen residing illegally in the United States will be transferred to Guantanamo before being repatriated to Italy. This is indirectly stated by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which refers to the statement of the White House spokeswoman, Karoline Leavitt, who stated This story is fake news. It will not happen, referring to the Washington Post article.