Gitmo’s going
Biden expects Cuban prison to close by Jan.
THE WHITE House plans to shutter the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba before President Obama leaves office, Vice President Biden said Thursday.
“That is my hope and expectation,” Biden told reporters during a trip to Sweden in response to questions over whether the infamous military facility would close before Obama’s second term ends in January.
Closing Guantanamo was one of Obama’s campaign promises when he first ran for President in 2008. The White House has been trying to close the facility since then, but has been repeatedly stymied by opposition in Congress.
Later in the day, the White House spokesman reiterated the administration’s desire to close Gitmo.
“We’re going to do our best to try to get this closed and it’s our expectation that that’s what we’ll do,” Josh Earnest said.
Federal officials have been able to decrease the number of prisoners held at the facility to 61, according to reports.
Fifteen prisoners were released from Guantanamo earlier this month and sent to the United Arab Emirates in the single largest release of detainees during the Obama administration.
The transfer of 12 Yemeni nationals and three Afghans to the UAE left just 61 detainees at the center, which was opened in January 2002 to hold foreign fighters suspected of links to the Taliban or al-Qaeda.
In February, Obama unveiled a plan to finally follow through on his pledge to close Guantanamo that would transfer remaining detainees to the U.S.
His proposal did not specify where in the U.S. the detainees would go, or if the closure could occur while Obama remains in office.
U.S. officials have said the plan considers, but does not name, 13 different locations in the U.S., including seven existing prison facilities in Colorado, South Carolina and Kansas, as well as six other locations on current military bases.
The plan would require approval from a GOP-led Congress and avoids the issue of where exactly detainees will be held in the United States.