Guantanamo for Migrants? The Laken Riley Act is a Human Rights Disaster—Here’s How to Fight Back
On January 29, 2025, President Donald Trump made a chilling announcement: Guantanamo Bay—infamous for its indefinite detentions, human rights abuses, and lack of due process—will now be used to imprison migrants. This decision follows the signing of the Laken Riley Act, a sweeping and dangerous piece of legislation that mandates the detention of undocumented immigrants accused of crimes, no matter how minor.
This act isn’t about justice. It’s about weaponizing immigration policy, stoking fear, and justifying mass incarceration. It sets a terrifying precedent—one where immigrants, regardless of their circumstances, are treated as national security threats rather than human beings. And in doing so, it tears at the fabric of what America is supposed to stand for: liberty, due process, and human dignity.
The consequences of this act extend far beyond the immigrant community. It paves the way for further erosion of civil liberties, normalizes indefinite detention, and lays the foundation for authoritarian policies that could one day be turned against any marginalized group.
This is not just an attack on immigrants. It’s an attack on all of us.
We cannot afford to stay silent. Below is a template you can use to write to your representatives and demand an end to this draconian policy. Let them know that we will not stand for this.
Download the template and plug your information in and email/call your legislatures. I have included both the original letter that I sent to my legislatures after they voted for this bill, and an updated version with Trumps signing of this bill and opening Guantanamo to hold migrants indefinitely.
All Republicans voted for this Unconstitutional Bill. Republicans had 1 no vote. Democrats has 13 no votes total.
12 Senate Democrats Voted for the Unconsitutional Bill
Senators
Catherine Cortez Masto
Nevada
John Fetterman
Pennsylvania
Ruben Gallego
Arizona
Maggie Hassan
New Hampshire
Mark Kelly
Arizona
Jon Ossoff
Georgia
Gary Peters
Michigan.
Jacky Rosen
Nevada
Jeanne Shaheen
New Hampshire
Elissa Slotkin
Michigan
Mark Warner
Virginia
Raphael Warnock
Georgia
156 House Democrats rejected the Unconsitutional Bill. Unconscionably, 46 House Democrats voted for the bill.
Democratic | Georgia | Yea | |
Democratic | Pennsylvania | Yea | |
Democratic | Illinois | Yea | |
Democratic | Oregon | Yea | |
Democratic | California | Yea | |
Democratic | Connecticut | Yea | |
Democratic | Minnesota | Yea | |
Democratic | Texas | Yea | |
Democratic | Kansas | Yea | |
Democratic | North Carolina | Yea | |
Democratic | Alabama | Yea | |
Democratic | New York | Yea | |
Democratic | Maine | Yea | |
Democratic | Texas | Yea | |
Democratic | New Hampshire | Yea | |
Democratic | New Jersey | Yea | |
Democratic | California | Yea | |
Democratic | California | Yea | |
Democratic | Connecticut | Yea | |
Democratic | Nevada | Yea | |
Democratic | Ohio | Yea | |
Democratic | Ohio | Yea | |
Democratic | Nevada | Yea | |
Democratic | California | Yea | |
Democratic | Massachusetts | Yea | |
Democratic | New York | Yea | |
Democratic | Georgia | Yea | |
Democratic | Maryland | Yea | |
Democratic | Michigan | Yea | |
Democratic | California | Yea | |
Democratic | New York | Yea | |
Democratic | Florida | Yea | |
Democratic | New Hampshire | Yea | |
Democratic | Washington | Yea | |
Democratic | Michigan | Yea | |
Democratic | Washington | Yea | |
Democratic | Alabama | Yea | |
Democratic | Illinois | Yea | |
Democratic | Arizona | Yea | |
Democratic | Virginia | Yea | |
Democratic | New York | Yea | |
Democratic | Ohio | Yea | |
Democratic | Nevada | Yea | |
Democratic | New York | Yea | |
Democratic | California | Yea | |
Democratic | Virginia | Yea |