The US Congress is awaiting the submission of Pentagon's plan for closing the US military prison in Guantanamo. This has been a long-awaited plan by the Obama administration but it is expected to face strong resistance from opposing lawmakers.
It has been Obama's promise to shut down the US naval base in Cuba since the start of his presidency. The administration is keen on keeping that promise right before the president ends his term.
Captain Jeff Davis, Pentagon's spokesman, said they will meet the deadline on Tuesday for the proposal to be sent to the Congress. He confirmed that there are still 91 detainees left in the facility, as per Reuters.
Their plan is to send back low-level detainees who are foreign and who have been cleared for transfer back to their foreign countries. The remaining detainees would be brought back to US soil and placed in a domestic military or a maximum security prison , according to Times.
Pentagon already carried out assessment activities in order to determine if some prisoners would be suitable as house detainees. Another effort the administration is doing is that they are now speeding up the parole reviews to determine if other prisoners would be cleared for release which will eventually lower down the number of detainees that will be brought back to the US.
Last year, Pentagon already sent a proposal for the closure of the facility but the Whitehouse sent it back for revisions. Most Republican and some democrat lawmakers opposed to the idea of closing down Guantanamo prison, reiterating that moving prisoners back in the US is strictly prohibited by the law.
According to Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte, the Obama administration doesn't know how to level with the American people regarding the terrorist activities and affiliation of these detainees. CNN noted that House Speaker Paul Ryan said border state governors had been standing out in courts to sue the administration. He added that they cannot do anything once Obama does it, but still go forward and stop him from doing it.
On the other hand, Whitehouse spokesman Josh Earnest asked the legislators to have an open mind regarding the issue; although he still doubts that they will have the intention to do so.
It was George W. Bush who opened the prison back in 2002. This move by Bush quickly got criticisms from both human rights activists and foreign governments.
