Trump urged to rule out ‘unlawful’ Cuba takeover and stop using Guantánamo Bay for migrant detention

More than 30 members of Congress have urged Donald Trump ’s top officials to end the use of the Guantánamo Bay naval base for immigrant detention and rule out any plans for military action on Cuba . In the letter to the secretaries of defense, state and homeland security on Wednesday morning, reviewed by the Guardian, Democratic lawmakers led by Delia Ramirez, a representative from Illinois, linked a rise in migration from the island nation to the heightening US aggression on Cuba . The US president has repeatedly mused about taking over Cuba, as his administration escalates pressure on the country. The US imposed additional sanctions last week and has repeatedly expressed a desire for potential military intervention to depose its government. A US fuel blockade on Cuba, ordered by Trump earlier this year, has contributed to a grave humanitarian crisis on the island. Trump has expressed an interest in regime change in Cuba after January’s US Delta Force operation to abduct Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela. “Cuba is next, by the way,” the US president said in March. In their letter, however, the Congress members warned any military action on the island nation could potentially destabilize the island further, driving up migration from Cuba to the US. “Such action would be unlawful, deeply destabilizing and catastrophic for the Cuban population, while further increasing displacement, exacerbating mass suffering and undermining US interests in the region,” they wrote. …