How Many Guantanamo Detainees Are Left After Latest Release

— -- The transfer of 15 Guantanamo detainees transferred to the United Arab Emirates on Monday marked the largest single transfer of detainees to take place during the Obama administration. So, how many detainees remain at the prison?

With 20 detainees of the 61 remaining detainees at Guantanamo cleared for transfer, the prison population will likely be dropping in coming months. But the reality is the Obama administration will remain hard pressed to close the detention facility by the end of its term.

And no matter how small the prison population ends up being, congressional restrictions on the placement of detainees on American soil will likely prevent President Obama from meeting a key presidential campaign promise to close the prison.

Periodic review boards have deemed 20 of the remaining 61 detainees to not be terror risks and eligible for transfer out of the prison facility. Those determinations have in recent years reduced the detainee population from the 238 when President Obama came into office.

But one major hurdle that has slowed reductions is that the overwhelming majority of the detainees cleared for release are from Yemen. And because of the non-existent security situation in that country, the detainees cannot be returned to their home country.

That has left the State Department with the tough task of finding countries willing to take in some detainees who have been categorized as security risks.

The fact that 12 of the 15 detainees transferred to the United Arab Emirates on Monday were Yemenis is an indication that the administration is making progress in finding countries willing to take Yemeni detainees.

In February, the Obama administration presented to Congress a plan for closing Guantanamo that made the case for the rising costs associated with continuing to operate the prison with a smaller prison population.

The proposal was not received well by Congress, but it raised the question of just how many detainees could remain in what could likely be perpetual custody.

In announcing the plan President Obama estimated that the prison population might leave 60 detainees “and potentially even fewer” remaining at Guantanamo.

A lower number now appears possible since 20 detainees are eligible for transfer.

It remains unclear if any more of the 31 detainees currently eligible for a periodic review board could be cleared for a transfer.

Unlike the 10 detainees currently in some stage of prosecution before the military commissions at Guantanamo, it’s possible they may never face criminal charges for the alleged terrorist activities that put them in Guantanamo in the first place.

With the administration making little headway with Congress for having the detainees serve their time in maximum security prisons on U.S. soil, for the immediate future they will continue to do so at Guantanamo.