Kirk Bill Prohibits Transfer of Gitmo Detainees to Terror Hotspots

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) introduced a bill to permanently prohibit the transfer of Guantanamo Bay detainees to state sponsors of terrorism and other unstable countries like Yemen, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Iran. Current law prohibits transfers to Yemen, Libya, Somalia and Syria through the end of the year, but not to Iran and Sudan, where 14 detainees have been sent over the past decade. U.S. Senators Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), James Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) are original co-sponsors of this legislation. 

Department of Defense officials have testified that 30 percent of released detainees are known or suspected to have re-joined the fight against Americans. This includes detainees like Ibrahim al Qosi, who was transferred to Sudan in 2012 after being classified by the administration as a “low-level” risk. He is now a terrorist recruiter featured prominently in propaganda videos produced by al Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen. 

“When asked why terrorists like al Qosi were allowed to reengage in terror against America after being transferred to Sudan, a state-sponsor of terror, Secretary of State John Kerry’s only answer was that ‘he’s not supposed to be doing that.‘ Allowing the transfer of these dangerous criminals to terror hotspots only makes it easier for them to re-join the fight against America,” Senator Kirk said. “As the administration moves forward with plans to close the Guantanamo Bay facility, we have to stop those who seek to engage in terrorism from ever getting the chance.” 

Last month, the administration released as many as 17 detainees from Guantanamo Bay. In 2015, the Obama Administration quietly announced the release or transfer of 20 detainees, and fewer than 100 prisoners are now left at the facility.

BACKGROUND:

Blocking the Transfer of Gitmo Detainees

• The FY16 omnibus contained Senator Kirk-driven language to block the transfer of Gitmo detainees into the U.S. and prohibit the construction of any facility on American soil to house Gitmo detainees. These Kirk provisions have been included in annual appropriations bills since FY11.
• Senator Kirk authored this language in order to block the Department of Justice and the Department of Defense from acting on a 2009 Presidential memorandum to relocate detainees to Thomson Correctional Center in Illinois.
• The FY 16 omnibus also requires notification of any agreement reached between the U.S. and another country regarding the transfer or release of Gitmo detainees.

Additional Kirk Actions

• Senator Kirk led a group of senators in a letter urging the Senate Appropriations Committee to reduce foreign aid to Ghana if the country is unable to hold and monitor the two detainees transferred there and ensure they do not reengage in terrorist activities.
• Senator Kirk co-sponsored S. 165, Detaining Terrorists to Protect America Act of 2015, to prohibit the transfer or release of Gitmo prisoners.
• Senator Kirk requested language in the FY12 CJS Appropriations bill to prohibit the transfer of Guantanamo Bay prisoners.
• In the 112th Congress, Senator Kirk authored S. 209 to prohibit the use of funds to transfer Guantanamo Bay detainees to the U.S.
• In 2011, Senator Kirk wrote Attorney General Eric Holder requesting the reversal of efforts to move Guantanamo Bay prisoners to Thomson, Ill., but to allow the federal government to operate Thomson Correctional Center as a maximum-security federal prison. 
• Senator Kirk led Illinois Republicans in the House in successfully inserting language in the FY11 National Defense Authorization Act to block the transfer of Gitmo detainees into the U.S.