Ted Cruz, senators urge Trump to put ISIS prisoners in Gitmo

Four Republican senators from southern states urged US President Trump to use the Guantanamo Bay detention center on the American base in Cuba to hold fighters from the Islamic State (ISIS) group captured in Syria.

Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, John Cornyn and Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida said in a letter sent Tuesday: “We urge you to consider transferring the worst of these Islamic State fighters to the detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, where they will face justice. Thank you for your continued leadership in our military campaign against the Islamic State and your willingness to consider this matter of national security.”

The lawmakers said Islamic State prisoners could escape or be released in Syria.

The letter continued: “As US and partner forces have waged a campaign against the Islamic State over the past four years, we have captured hundreds of foreign enemy combatants. Our partners, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), are currently detaining over 700 of these battle-hardened terrorists in northeast Syria. These detainees include two of the so-called ‘Beatles,’ expatriated British citizens suspected of joining ISIS and beheading Western hostages.”

The issue has come up because Trump has ordered the withdrawal of US forces from Syria, and US allies there hold hundreds of ISIS prisoners.