US court blocks Trump administration from sending Venezuelan immigrants to Guantanamo

People march during a rally in Times Square against Trump administration’s immigration policies and to show their support for immigrant communities in New York City and across the country in New York, United States on February 9, 2025 [Mostafa Bassim – Anadolu Agency]

A federal court yesterday halted the Donald Trump administration’s attempt to transfer three Venezuelan immigrants, detained in New Mexico, to Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba.

Earlier that day, the men’s lawyers argued in a legal filing that the detainees “fit the profile” of those the administration had targeted for transfer to Guantanamo.

The filing also stated that they were “Venezuelan men detained in the El Paso area with [false] charges of connections with the Tren de Aragua gang,” CNN reported.

The lawyers urged a US District Court in New Mexico to block the transfer, arguing that the “uncertainty” surrounding the detainees’ legal rights and access to lawyers warranted an injunction.

Chief US District Judge Kenneth J. Gonzales granted the temporary order during a brief hearing.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the three men, was brought by the Centre for Constitutional Rights, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico, and Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center.

The Tren de Aragua gang emerged over a decade ago in a prison in Venezuela’s Aragua state and has since expanded across Latin America and into the US.

In recent weeks, Trump ordered the construction of a detention camp at Guantanamo Bay to hold up to 30,000 “worst criminal illegal aliens threatening the American people.”

The White House has since begun flying undocumented immigrants — labelled as a “high threat” and “criminals” — to the detention centre in Cuba as part of Trump’s mass deportation plan.

The Pentagon announced on 5 February that the first ten migrant detainees had arrived at a Guantanamo Bay detention facility.

The Department of Defence said that these individuals are being housed in “vacant detention facilities” and emphasised that their detention is temporary.

According to CBS News, the facility is separate from Guantanamo’s military prison, which still holds terror suspects from the 9/11 attacks.

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