WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) today applauded the signature of an executive order confirming that President Trump will not close Guantanamo Bay (GITMO) and relocate the facility to a site on the mainland. The president announced this executive order during last night’s State of the Union address. Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, was listed as a potential site for relocating detainees under the Obama administration.

“For eight years, I actively fought the Obama administration’s threat to close Guantanamo Bay and move those enemy combatants to a site on the U.S. mainland, in particular Ft. Leavenworth,” said Roberts. “President Trump has unequivocally agreed that Guantanamo Bay is the best and safest location to house enemy combatants. Kansans – and all Americans – can now rest assured knowing that no terrorists will be moved into the heart of their communities.  As I always have stated, not on my watch will any terrorist be placed in Kansas.”

To download video of Roberts’ statement, click here.

President Trump yesterday signed an executive order reiterating the necessity for Guantanamo Bay to remain open and that no enemy combatant will be transferred to an alternate facility on the U.S. mainland.

Roberts was an outspoken opponent against closing the United States’ current detainment facilities due to the high security risks and economic costs. Roberts has introduced and supported numerous pieces of legislation explicitly prohibiting the closure of Guantanamo Bay and the transfer of detainees to a site on the U.S. mainland. He also started a petition against this move that has received over 12,000 signatures from concerned Kansans.

Roberts placed a hold on the administration’s nominee for Secretary of the Army and General Counsel in September 2015. In 2009, he also fought the administration, including placing legislative holds on nominees, which successfully prevented its plan to consider housing detainees at Ft. Leavenworth.  

Roberts has repeatedly rejected the notion that closing GITMO will stop the ability of terrorists to recruit new jihadis, saying it will simply establish a “GITMO north.” He has cited the lack of intelligence estimate of the threat that this move would place on American communities. He has stated concerns with the 30 percent recidivism rate among released detainees, the hundreds of millions of dollars it will cost to construct a new facility, and the fact that opening domestic facility would place a bright red bullseye for acts of terror on an American community. Sites in South Carolina, Kansas, and Colorado were surveyed as potential replacements for Guantanamo.

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