Congressmen Vow to Block Plan to Use Training Ship for Deportations

“Hands off the Golden Bear,” Congressman John Garamendi and Salud Carbajal of California declared, vowing to block any attempt by the Trump administration to use the retiring training ship Golden Bear to conduct deportations. The senior members of the House Armed Services Committee and Transportation and Infrastructure Committee are saying the plan, which is reportedly under consideration, would have “enormous operational, safety, and legal challenges,” while calling it “deeply inhumane.”

News of the possible “prison ship” operation to deport illegal migrants being rounded up by ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) was first reported at the beginning of the month by The New York Times. The paper quoted unnamed Department of Defense officials who said it was a preliminary discussion and still hypothetical but called for using ships to move the detainees to Central America or South America.

The training ship Golden Bear, operated for Cal Poly Maritime Academy in Solano, California, was identified as one likely ship for the operation. Commissioned by the U.S. Navy in 1989 as USNS Maury, a hydrographic survey vessel used to map the deep ocean, the ship was, along with her sister USNS Tanner (later the training ship State of Maine), the fastest oceanographic ship built. Cal Poly denies the rumors that the ship was used for spy missions of “black” ops, but the Navy retired both vessels in 1994 and transferred them to MARAD. USNS Maury was outfitted as the training ship Golden Bear and transferred to the then Cal Maritime in 1996.

This story was originally published by The Maritime Executive. Read the full story at The Maritime Executive →