NEWSLETTERS
SUBSCRIBE
Colorado Politics

Print Edition

Log in
My Account
Log in
Subscribe
My Account
Log in

Judge blocks ICE from sending Venezuelan illegal immigrants to Guantanamo

By and 02/10/2025 | updated 1 year ago

A federal court blocked the Trump administration from flying three Venezuelan illegal immigrants in New Mexico to Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba, the first time a court has barred such transports.

The U.S. District Court in New Mexico approved a temporary restraining order to block the transfer of three Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees to Guantanamo on the basis that the defense’s lawyers argued they were falsely connected to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

“The mere uncertainty the government has created surrounding the availability of legal process and counsel access is sufficient to authorize the modest injunction,” Judge Kenneth J. Gonzales wrote in the ruling.

(function(w,d,s,i){w.ldAdInit=w.ldAdInit||[];w.ldAdInit.push({slot:11095963150525286,size:[0, 0],id:”ld-2426-4417″});if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(s),p=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];j.async=true;j.src=”//cdn2.lockerdomecdn.com/_js/ajs.js”;j.id=i;p.parentNode.insertBefore(j,p);}})(window,document,”script”,”ld-ajs”);

The three unnamed Venezuelan illegal immigrants at the center of the legal case are among hundreds to thousands who could be sent to Guantanamo rather than being deported to Venezuela.

#dsk-box-ad-e.new-ad-loading [id*=”-outstream-icon”] {display: none !important;}[id*=”-outstream-icon”],[id*=”-outstream-icon”] > img {width: 24px;height: 24px;display: block;cursor: pointer !important;font-size: 24px !important;line-height: 1 !important;max-width: unset !important;vertical-align: unset !important;box-shadow: unset !important;}[id*=”-outstream-icon”]:hover {filter: drop-shadow(black 0px 0px 6px);}#bottom-controls_videoPlayer_4760 {position: absolute;bottom: 5px;left: 5px;display: grid;grid-template-columns: 24px 24px;}#tpd-volume-control_videoPlayer_4760.muted > #volume-on-outstream-icon_videoPlayer_4760,#tpd-volume-control_videoPlayer_4760:not(.muted) > #volume-muted-outstream-icon_videoPlayer_4760 {display: none;}#tpd-play-pause-control_videoPlayer_4760[playing=”true”] > #click-to-play-outstream-icon,#tpd-play-pause-control_videoPlayer_4760[playing=”false”] > #click-to-pause-outstream-icon {display: none;}@media (max-width: 770px) { #dsk-box-ad-e.new-ad-loading iframe[src],#dsk-box-ad-e.new-ad-loading video {display: none !important;} } #dsk-box-ad-e.new-ad-loading #ad-container_videoPlayer_4760 {background: #5a585830 !important;mask: linear-gradient(315deg, #000 30%, #88888855, #000 70%) right / 350% 100%;animation: tpd-shimmer 1.15s infinite;}@keyframes tpd-shimmer {100% {mask-position: left}}#dsk-box-ad-e:not(.new-ad-loading) {background: black;}#dsk-box-ad-e {opacity: 1;animation-name: fadeInOpacity;animation-iteration-count: 1;animation-timing-function: ease-in;animation-duration: 0.75s;}@keyframes fadeInOpacity {0% {opacity: 0;}100% {opacity: 1;}}#dsk-box-ad-e.new-ad-loading #progress-row_videoPlayer_4760,#dsk-box-ad-e.has-countdown #progress-row_videoPlayer_4760 {display: none;}#progress-row_videoPlayer_4760 {width: 100%;display: block;bottom: 0px;position: absolute;}#dsk-box-ad-e.new-ad-loading #progressLabel-container_videoPlayer_4760 {display: none;}@media (max-width: 770px) { #progressLabel-container_videoPlayer_4760 {display: none;} } #dsk-box-ad-e.has-countdown #progressLabel-container_videoPlayer_4760 {display: none;}#progressLabel-container_videoPlayer_4760 {width: 300px;position: absolute;bottom: 15px;height: 0px;}#progressLabel_videoPlayer_4760 {color: white;font-size: 7pt;font-family: Arial, Sans-Serif;text-align: center;width: fit-content;height: 5px;margin: auto;}#progressBar_videoPlayer_4760 {width: 300px;height: 3px;background-color: lightgray;}#progress_videoPlayer_4760 {height: 100%;background-color: cornflowerblue;width: 0;}#dsk-box-ad-e:not(.replay) #replay-outstream-container_videoPlayer_4760 {display: none !important;}#dsk-box-ad-e.replay #replay-outstream-container_videoPlayer_4760 {display: flex;height: 100%;width: 100%;z-index: 99;position: relative;background: black;}#dsk-box-ad-e.replay #replay-outstream-icon_videoPlayer_4760 {width: 30px;height: 30px;margin: auto;position: relative;background-image: url(‘data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg fill=”white” height=”30px” width=”30px” xmlns=”https://www.w3.org/2000/svg” viewBox=”0 0 74.999 74.999″ xml:space=”preserve” stroke=”black”%3E%3Cpath d=”M33.511 71.013c15.487 0 28.551-10.563 32.375-24.859h9.113L61.055 22 47.111 46.151h8.006c-3.44 8.563-11.826 14.628-21.605 14.628-12.837 0-23.28-10.443-23.28-23.28 0-12.836 10.443-23.28 23.28-23.28 6.604 0 12.566 2.768 16.809 7.196l5.258-9.108c-5.898-5.176-13.619-8.32-22.065-8.32C15.034 3.987 0 19.019 0 37.5c-.002 18.481 15.03 33.513 33.511 33.513z”/%3E%3C/svg%3E’);}#dsk-box-ad-e.replay #bottom-controls_videoPlayer_4760_videoPlayer_4760,#dsk-box-ad-e.replay [id*=”-outstream-icon”]:not([id^=”replay-outstream-icon”]) {display: none !important;}#dsk-box-ad-e.replay #video-container_videoPlayer_4760 {display: none !important;}#dsk-box-ad-e {margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;}/* Main Styling */#dsk-box-ad-e.first-render {display: none !important;}#page-content_videoPlayer_4760 {display: inline-block;}#video-container_videoPlayer_4760 {position: relative;}#video-element_videoPlayer_4760 {position: absolute;top: 0;left: 0;}/* Some providers inject their ad content into the video element *//* but if not we hide it. */#video-element_videoPlayer_4760:not([src]) {display: none;}#ad-container_videoPlayer_4760 {position: absolute;top: 0;left: 0;cursor: pointer;}#dsk-box-ad-e,#page-content_videoPlayer_4760,#video-container_videoPlayer_4760,#video-element_videoPlayer_4760,#ad-container_videoPlayer_4760 {width: 300px;height: 250px;}#dsk-box-ad-e div[id*=”google_ads_iframe_”] {width: 300px !important;height: 250px !important;z-index: -1;position: absolute;}

Pause
Play
Unmute
Mute

The lawsuit was filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, and the Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem flew to Guantanamo last Friday to see the immigrant camps that the military had begun to set up. Roughly 50 immigrants have been flown to Guantanamo to date.

White House border czar Tom Homan said last Thursday that 11,000 illegal immigrants have been arrested nationwide since President Donald Trump took office on Jan. 20.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

The White House has normalized relations with Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro in the sense that he has agreed to take back Tren de Aragua gang members, as has El Salvador President Nayib Bukele.

For the time being, the United States has chosen to send the most dangerous illegal immigrants in its custody to the Cuban naval base. At least two planes have been dispatched to Guantanamo since last week, according to Noem.

I was just in Cuba and saw firsthand criminal aliens being unloaded off a flight at GITMO.

My message to criminal alien murderers, rapists, child predators and gangsters: do not come to this country or we will hunt you down, find you, and lock you up. pic.twitter.com/BokRSqp4kr

— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem)

February 10, 2025

(function(){ var script = document.createElement(‘script’); script.async = true; script.type = ‘text/javascript’; script.src = ‘https://ads.pubmatic.com/AdServer/js/userSync.js’; script.onload = function(){ PubMaticSync.sync({ pubId: 163198, url: ‘https://trk.decide.dev/usync?dpid=16539124085471338&uid=(PM_UID)’, macro: ‘(PM_UID)’ }); }; var node = document.getElementsByTagName(‘head’)[0]; node.parentNode.insertBefore(script, node); })();

(function(w,d,s,i){w.ldAdInit=w.ldAdInit||[];w.ldAdInit.push({slot:11095961405694822,size:[0, 0],id:”ld-5817-6791″});if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(s),p=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];j.async=true;j.src=”//cdn2.lockerdomecdn.com/_js/ajs.js”;j.id=i;p.parentNode.insertBefore(j,p);}})(window,document,”script”,”ld-ajs”);

Tags
Avatar photo
Anna Giaritelli

Reporter

Welcome Back.

Streak: 9 days i

Stories you've missed since your last login:

Stories you've saved for later:

Recommended stories based on your interests:

Edit my interests