Trump administration sends new group of Venezuelans linked to Tren de Aragua to Guantanamo Bay

After the Trump administration sent more than 200 Venezuelan immigrants to El Salvador, alleging alleged links to the dreaded Tren de Aragua gang, a new group of people—mostly Venezuelan immigrants—was sent on a charter flight from El Paso, Texas, to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

According to a report by the New York Times, Trump administration officials with knowledge of the move claimed that the immigrants would also have ties to the Tren de Aragua and would be awaiting deportation.

However, the NYT also detailed that officials showed no evidence to back up their claim.

This shipment of Venezuelan illegal immigrants to Guantanamo comes amid a heavy legal dispute between migrant rights advocates and the federal government, which is using the unusual Alien Enemies Act to facilitate the expulsion of immigrants who allegedly have ties to Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang that operates in several countries in the hemisphere and has been labeled by the Trump Administration as a terrorist group.

This new transfer of immigrants also means the return of Venezuelan nationals to the base for the first time since March 11, when the Trump Administration transferred back to the United States 40 men who had been temporarily held at Guantanamo.

At that time, a court hearing was held on two lawsuits challenging the legality of President Trump's policy of detaining immigrants at Guantanamo. However, at that time, Judge Carl Nichols of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia refused to issue an order prohibiting further transfers to the base on the grounds that there were no migrants left at Guantanamo.

It is possible that this new transfer of illegal immigrants will generate a new legal battle.

Previously, on February 20, the Trump Administration had already emptied the base of immigrants after it transferred 177 Venezuelans who were sent from Guantanamo to Honduras and from the Central American country to Venezuela, a milestone that briefly reactivated deportations to the South American country, ruled by a regime hostile to Washington.

In fact, because President Trump dismantled the oil licenses that the Biden Administration had granted Chevron to operate in Venezuela, the regime of dictator Nicolás Maduro ordered the deportation flights officially canceled.

However, Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, began leading talks with Caracas to call on Maduro to receive Venezuelan citizens who entered the U.S. illegally.

If Maduro does not accept the Venezuelan immigrants, Washington will begin to apply severe and escalating sanctions against Caracas, the secretary of state threatened.