Vice President Biden said today it is his “hope and expectation” the terrorist prison at Guantanamo Bay will close before President Obama leaves office this January. Really?

According to the New York Times, about half of the 61 detainees remaining at Gitmo have been deemed by the U.S. government as too dangerous to release. And yesterday, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said that “the Obama administration will not transfer to other countries individuals that have not been cleared for transfer.”

President Obama wants to bring these terrorists to the U.S., but the American people and bipartisan majorities in Congress have rejected this plan again and again. Bringing Gitmo detainees to the U.S. is against the law, a fact that key members of the Obama administration have reaffirmed in recent months:

  • “It’s against the law, now, to establish another detention facility [in the United States].” Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, 1/26/16
  • “With respect to individuals being transferred to the United States, the law currently does not allow for that.” Attorney General Loretta Lynch, 11/17/15

Given that half of the remaining detainees are too dangerous to release and that it would be illegal to transfer them to the U.S., how does Vice President Biden expect the president to close Gitmo without violating the law?

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