Donald Trump's blunt vow to send 30,000 'worst of the worst' migrants to Guantanamo Bay

Donald Trump has led an unprecedented crackdown on illegal migration in the US - a regime which has caused concern among many communities and stars, including Selena Gomez

Donald Trump wants to house 30,000 illegal migrants at Guantanamo Bay.

The US President today told how he intends for the "worst of the worst" migrants to be kept under lock and key, and noted how "tough" it is to escape from the US military base in Cuba.

It is the latest move in Trump's unprecedented crackdown on illegal migration in the US, which began the moment the 78-year-old Republican entered office last week. Speaking today, Trump described some of the migrants in his country as "the worst criminal illegal aliens".

But Guantanamo Bay has historically been used to hold terror suspects since 9/11 and current detainees include the accused mastermind of the attack. Trump reversed a Barack Obama administration order to keep Guantanamo open in 2018, after the George W. Bush administration used the facility to detain "illegal enemy combatants" during the "War on Terror."

Speaking today at the White House, Trump said: "We have 30,000 beds in Guantanamo to detain the worst criminal illegal aliens threatening the American people. Some of them are so bad we don't even trust the countries to hold them because we don't want them coming back.

"So we're going to send them out to Guantanamo Bay. This will double our capacity immediately, and tough. That's a tough - that's a tough place to get out of."

The world leader signed the Laken Riley Act, which puts his idea into motion as Immigration and Customs Enforcement continues to conduct raids across the country. Deportation flights have left the United States daily – with the administration putting out images of the effort.

These scenes have concerned communities and celebrities, including pop star and actress Selena Gomez, who broke down in tears as she shared her sadness "her people" were "being attacked" amid the regime. Gomez, 32, and who has previously referred to herself as Mexican-American, said in her video: "All my people are getting attacked. The children. I don't understand. I'm so sorry. I wish I could do something but I can't. I don't know what to do. I'll try everything, I promise." Over the clip, she added an emoji flag of Mexico and wrote: "I'm sorry."

Since George W. Bush opened the military base for his crackdown on the "War on Terror" in 2002, a series of arrangements to transfer prisoners out of the facility have been frequently negiotated. The population has now dwindled to just 15 after the most recent series of transfers.

Among them is 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who agreed to plead guilty after negotiations with military lawyers, avoiding a potential death sentence, and setting off yet another legal saga.

It means there is capacity for Trump's move, which requires authorities to detain migrants who are in the US illegally and are accused of other crimes, including misdemeanours. Many of these are from nations in South America but Colombian President Gustavo Petro had initially refused to accept US flights of deported Colombian nationals.

The 64-year-old politician eventually backed down and Trump praised Petro's representatives when he addressed the media on Tuesday. Dad-of-five Trump said: "I do appreciate the people of Colombia, they are wonderful people, and the representatives really acted well. They are going to all take them back and they are going to like it, too. They are going like it."