If Washington could muster the political will to shutter the Guantánamo

Bay detention center, there are more than 100 prisons in the United States capable of handling the detainees, according to congressional researchers. In fact, hundreds of prisoners convicted of terror-related offenses are already housed in U.S. prisons.

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-California), chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and proponent of closing Guantánamo Bay, asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to see if any detention facilities in the U.S. could safely house the 166 detainees currently at the military prison in Cuba.

The GAO report said the Department of Justice operates 98 prisons suitable for holding terrorists. In addition, the military runs six of its own that could do the job.

But there are some hurdles to clear before the detainees could be transferred to one or more of these U.S.-based facilities. For one thing, lawmakers and President Barack Obama would have to agree on changing federal law, which currently prohibits moving Guantánamo’s prisoners to the U.S.

Also, the chosen prison(s) would have to relocate their non-terrorism inmates to another penitentiary, and that could prove difficult due to overcrowding in the federal system.

“This report demonstrates that if the political will exists, we could finally close Guantanamo without imperiling our national security,” Feinstein said in a prepared statement. “The United States already holds 373 individuals convicted of terrorism in 98 facilitates across the country. As far as I know, there hasn’t been a single security problem reported in any of these cases.”

Late Thursday, the Senate, in another insult to American prison guards and administrators, voted 54-41 to prevent the Guantánamo prisoners from being transferred to the United States.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

To Learn More:

Here Are The 104 Places in America to Put Gitmo Detainees (by Spencer Ackerman, Wired)

Guantanamo Bay Detainees: Facilities and Factors for Consideration If Detainees Were Brought to the United States (Government Accountability Office) (pdf)

Half of Prisoners Still Held at Guantánamo Have Actually been Cleared for Release (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)

Beyond Guantánamo, a Web of Prisons for Terrorism Inmates (by Scott Shane, New York Times)

4 U.S. Cities Compete to House Guantánamo Prisoners (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)

House Majority Doesn’t Trust Supermax Prison Guards (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)

Guantánamo Detainees: Kansas Scared, Michigan Says Bring ‘em On (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)

Al-Qaeda Terrorists in U.S. Prisons? They’re Already Here (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)