and THAT has been the damn problem since Obama was in office.
"No one" wants them "in their backyards" so they have not only refused to move them to prisons on U.S. soil but have refused to FUND the closure of the facility.
They REFUSED in 2009
Senate Democrats reject funding for Guantánamo closure
This article is more than 13 years old
Vote is the latest setback for the Obama administration following criticism over reinstating military tribunals
Daniel Nasaw in Washington and agencies
Wed 20 May 2009 12.36 EDT
President Barack Obama's campaign pledge to shut the prison at Guantánamo Bay was rejected by his own party yesterday when Senate Democrats joined their Republican counterparts in voting not to pay for the closure. The vote is the latest setback for the Obama administration, which has been widely criticised by supporters for deciding to restart the controversial military tribunals for detainees, first established by President George Bush, but halted by Obama when he came to office.
The 90-6 vote in the Senate follows a similar decision in the House of Representatives last week - a clear sign to Obama that he may struggle to convince the Democratic-controlled Congress to agree with his plans to shut down the detention centre and move the 240 detainees.
Last month, Obama asked for $80m (£60m) for the Pentagon and the US justice department to close the facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, by January. The administration put its congressional Democratic allies in a difficult spot by requesting the Guantánamo closure money before developing a plan for what to do with its detainees.
Obama is scheduled to give a major address tomorrow outlining in more detail his plans for Guantánamo, but it's already clear that Congress has little appetite for bringing detainees to US soil, even if the inmates would be held in maximum-security prisons.
(snip)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/may/20/close-guantanamo-funding-senate-obama
They REFUSED in 2014
December 1, 20148:08 PMUpdated 8 years ago
Congress deals blow to plan to shut Guantanamo prison
By Reuters Staff
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawmakers dealt a blow to President Barack Obama’s five-year-long effort to close the prison camp at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba by omitting a plan to shut the facility from an annual defense authorization bill.
U.S. Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told reporters on Monday that the final version of the massive bill will not allow the president to transfer inmates to the United States. “Our language (on Guantanamo) ... will not be in,” Levin said.
The defense bill, which has been passed annually for more than half a century, is likely to be approved by the House of Representatives and Senate in the coming days and then sent to the White House for Obama to sign into law.
Obama has promised to shut the detainee camp since he entered the White House in early 2009, citing its damage to the U.S. reputation around the world. He has so far been unable to do so, partly because of resistance from Congress.
(snip)
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-guantanamo-congress/congress-deals-blow-to-plan-to-shut-guantanamo-prison-idUSKCN0JG01L20141202
In 2018, the LAST "President" (in quotes) REFUSED to close it and wanted to expand it
US military plans for future at Guantanamo because of Trump
By Ben Fox, The Associated Press
Jun 7, 2018
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba — A new dining hall for guards at the Guantanamo Bay detention center has a shimmering view of the Caribbean and a lifespan of 20 years. Barracks scheduled to start getting built next year are meant to last five decades. And the Pentagon has asked Congress to approve money for a new super-max prison unit to be designed with the understanding that prisoners will likely grow old and frail in custody — some perhaps still without being convicted of a crime.
President Donald Trump’s order in January to keep the Guantanamo jail open, and allow the Pentagon to bring new prisoners there, is prompting military officials to consider a future for the controversial facility that the Obama administration sought to close. Officials talked about the plans in an unusually frank manner as a small group of journalists toured the isolated base where 40 men are still held behind tall fences and coils of razor wire on the southeastern coast of Cuba.
“We’ve got to plan for the long term,” Army Col. Stephen Gabavics, commander of the guard force, told reporters this week. “We ultimately have to plan for whether or not they are going to be here for the rest of their lives.”
(snip)
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2018/06/08/us-military-plans-as-if-guantanamo-wont-close-for-decades/
So after almost 15 fucking years, someone in Congress finally got the damn message, but it was too late because they would have needed GOP votes to do it -
Republicans scoff as Democrats try to close Gitmo again
by Aris Folley and Jordan Williams - 07/05/22 5:16 AM ET
Democrats are reviving their efforts to shutter the Guantánamo Bay detention facility, but the push faces an uphill battle in the Senate, where Republicans are already writing it off as doomed.
In the past month, House Democrats have advanced legislation seeking to close the facility in Cuba as part of a larger annual defense spending bill leaders are expected to bring to a vote in the full chamber, where the party holds narrow control, in the coming weeks.
But in the Senate, where Democrats will need GOP support to pass the defense funding bill, the move faces a wall of opposition from Republicans.
“I’m sure it’s not going to happen,” Sen. James Inhofe (Okla.), the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, told The Hill, adding “no rational person’s going to support that. It’s an absolutely vital institution.”
(snip)
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/3544387-republicans-scoff-as-dems-try-to-close-gitmo-again/
We had 8 years of bullshit spewed on DU about Guantanamo Bay and "Why hasn't Obama closed it", showing a clear refusal to understand the problem and how government works.
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