Nearly 200 illegal migrants being held by the US in Guantanamo Bay have been flown home to Venezuela — the latest mass deportations since the South American nation backed down from refusing to accept them.
A U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) flight took 177 “Venezuelan illegal aliens” from the notorious US naval base in Cuba — where many Tren de Aragua gang bangers are held — to Honduras, where they boarded a Venezuelan plane to their capital, Caracas, officials confirmed Thursday.
Photos showed streams of men wearing gray sweats and red facemasks as they walked off the final Conviasa flight, with some raising their hands in celebration.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said his government “requested the repatriation” of his citizens “who were unjustly taken” to the military complex, which is best known for having held the terrorists responsible for the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
However, it was just the latest deportations accepted by Maduro — with 190 also flown home last week — since buckling to pressure from President Trump.
“Venezuela had historically resisted accepting repatriation of its citizens but has recently begun accepting removals following high-level political discussions and an investment of significant resources,” federal immigration and military officials wrote in a court document filed Thursday.
Trump’s administration is moving full steam ahead in booting migrants who have exhausted all legal options in efforts to stay in the country. As of Nov. 24, nearly 1.5 million had received final removal orders, according to ICE statistics, which included more than 22,000 Venezuelans.
Guantanamo Bay has also been used historically to hold individuals caught trying to illegally reach the US by boat, and other immigrants who need to be resettled.
Starting Feb. 4, flights from a US Army base in West Texas began arriving almost daily at Guantanamo, which Trump has said he wants to expand to hold as many as 30,000 people – up significantly from its current 2,500-person capacity.
In January, Trump publicly considered holding some migrants at Guantanamo indefinitely.
“Some of them are so bad that we don’t even trust the countries to hold them because we don’t want them coming back, so we’re gonna send ‘em out to Guantanamo,” he said.
In Thursday’s court filing, the US argued that the Venezuelan migrants shouldn’t have a right to legal counsel – something the detainees’ families and advocacy groups have been begging for – because they are subject to final orders of removal back to their home country.
The Venezuelan migrants being sent to the naval base are members of the violent Tren de Aragua gang, federal officials have previously said.
Authorities have not publicly confirmed the identities of immigrants held there nor those allowed to fly home this week.
With Post Wires.
