President Obama's Plan To Move GITMO Detainees To U.S. Soil Meets Broad Resistance

Press Release

President Obama's plan to move Guantanamo Bay (GTMO) detainees to prisons inside the United States was a hot topic on Capitol Hill today. Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA), Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee's Oversight and Management Efficiency Subcommittee, strongly denounced the plan. The subcommittee heard from state and local officials from Kansas, Michigan, and from South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley. All strongly oppose the President's plan to close the facility and transfer detainees to their state's prisons. They added that in addition to the dangers posed by bringing terrorists to U.S. soil, that the Obama Administration has not engaged with state and local law enforcement who would be greatly involved in executing and securing any such transfer.

Subcommittee Chairman Scott Perry: "Why would the Administration ignore the advice of our state and law enforcement professionals? Just because their advice doesn't fit the Administration's political narrative doesn't mean their voices shouldn't be heard. The fact is, state and local law enforcement have numerous concerns with the implications of bringing the world's most dangerous terrorists to our homeland. Law enforcement officials have serious questions, which the Administration's plan either failed to consider or simply didn't answer. Receiving input from states and local communities regarding these transfers is critical; that South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley made the trip to Washington today underscores that importance."

Governor Nikki Haley: "Moving detention operations from a secure facility outside of the continental United States and into Charleston, South Carolina will not stop the propaganda. This line of thinking is giving these terrorists too much credit and validity. Terrorists do not need a jail to hate us. They hate us all on their own."

"Whether the terrorists are detained on an American military base in Cuba or somewhere in the United States, they will be held under the same legal authority, by the same country, in the same manner, for the same duration, and for the same reasons. Why does the zip code matter from a foreign relations standpoint?"

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